Chicago Public School Board Supporters Concerned About Potential Changes to Voting Rules Due to Fast-Tracked Illinois Budget Legislation

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) — Amid the eleventh-hour budget discussions in Springfield, there may be an unexpected adjustment to how the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education approves its budget.

Some supporters of the elected school board are raising concerns the mayor may be trying to undermine their authority, with a “Springfield surprise.”

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The developments in Springfield are linked to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s stalled attempt to have CPS secure a $300 million loan to address a pension payment.

But, if the law governing the CPS voting threshold was changed, the mayor could get his way.

One month ago, Johnson visited Springfield with some modest but public requests.

But now some lawmakers are concerned he’s working on something off the radar.

“There have been indications that the mayor’s office might try to bypass the current voting protocol of the Chicago School Board, allowing them to approve a bill or resolution with just a simple majority,” said state Rep. Ann Williams, a Democrat from Chicago.

Currently, a two-thirds vote is required on budget amendments.

It matters because the mayor fell one vote short in his push to have the hybrid elected school board approve a high-interest loan to cover a $175 million pension payment that has since fallen to the city.

“What we’ve heard is that he is talking directly to the Senate president, asking him to change the law, so that our board wouldn’t require two-thirds to make budget amendments and to take out irresponsible loans,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said.

The mayor considers Senate President Don Harmon a political mentor. The two met during the mayor’s Springfield visit.

Harmon’s office said there is no pending legislation to change the voting threshold.

“So, what we’re hearing is that they want to put it as part of the budget implementation bill, which has thousands of pages that nobody reads. They’ll sneak it in there, and that will get passed. And nobody will even know it,” Martinez said.

Williams was one of the chief sponsors of the elected school board law that the mayor supported.

“The whole reason we passed the school board bill in the first place is to make sure that every Chicagoan had a voice in the future of the Chicago Public Schools,” Williams said. “This would allow them to circumvent the power of the democratically elected school board if there’s a budget vote on the table.”

The mayor’s office issued a statement saying in part, “The Mayor wants to ensure that the school board can effectively govern, but is not pursuing any changes to the voting threshold at this time…There is no reform that the Mayor’s Office is currently working on that would undermine the authority of the board in any way.”

The mayor’s office pointed out that Chicago is the only school district with a two-thirds voting threshold requirement, which was part of the elected school board law passed in 2021.

The mayor is working on reforms to give CPS the same tools as other districts, the statement also said, which suggests he does want the voting threshold changed.