State Releases Proposed School Board Districts Map - Again, there are major concerns |
|
|
 |
Greetings!
The Illinois Senate released its latest version of a City of Chicago Electoral School Board Districts Map:
Please see the formal IAAFER response below, however, here are a few observations that we noted:
1) Although the legislation calls for the City to be divided into 10 districts for the 2024 election of 10 school board members, the state has never created a 10 district map, nor explained why it hasn't. Is there an intent to change the legislation that we are not privy to?
2) The 20 district map that has been released has never, to our knowledge, been accompanied by any explanation of what criteria was used to develop the 20 districts. What are the key drivers for how the boundaries have been drawn?
3) We overlayed the state's proposed map with a map of the City's 50 wards (this overlay follows) with these concerning results:
-
The 27th Ward crosses 5 school board districts, the 15th ward crosses 4 school board districts, the 4th, 12th, and 34th wards cross 3 school districts, and the 36th ward, as you might guess based on how skewed it is, crosses 4 school board districts, whereas with the IAAFER proposed map, all of these wards, even the 36th, remain wholly within a school board district. IAAFER believes that keeping wards whole within a school district boundary creates a less confusing and more collaborative school district from the residents and voters perspective, for all 50 wards.
-
Viewing the map from the reverse angle, one of the State’s school board districts, District I, appears to have parts of wards 10, 9, 21, 6, 16, 17 and 18, whereas District D contains all of Ward 49, with parts of wards 40 and 50. Clearly there is some manner of imbalance here. IAAFER believes its proposed school board district map, with 5 complete wards in each of the 10 districts, represents parity and balance in both population and wards per district, as well as in the relationship of residents to school board member to alderperson.
4) The Senate committee charged with this effort should consider voting on a map with 10 districts, which is required for the 2024 election and which gives it time to consider how best to move to 20 districts, which are not required until 2026. Interestingly, we may find that 10 districts is sufficient and that 2 board members per each of the 10 districts may better serve residents and prove less costly administratively. The bottom line is that we have time, between now and 2026, to finalize a 20 district School Board map.
5) Finally, IAAFER understands that there are different approaches to drawing school district boundaries, however, transparency of process, clean lines of communication, simplifying boundaries, and most importantly, drawing districts with residents' and voters' interests in mind, their ability to elect school board members in an easily comprehended manner, should be of primary consideration.
The referenced map overlay and formal IAAFER response follow.
Respectfully,
COAL Board of Directors
_____________________________________________
"The time to work seriously and collectively, to improve the state of our Community, is upon us..."
Let Us be intentional in all aspects of the Work that must be done.
|
|
|
|
|
Senate Proposed School Board Districts Map
overlayed with a map of Chicago's 50 Wards, Senate proposed districts are colored, ward boundaries and number are in white
(click to view enlarged map)
|
|
|
|
|
IAAFER Views On Legislature’s Elected School Board Map:
Same Stuff, Different Day
Under the cloak of darkness, the State Legislature has just released a second map proposal that created an 20-district elected school board boundary map that breaks up communities around the City of Chicago. With the Legislature scheduled to adjourn May 19th, a vote on the map is expected within 24 hours or so. Unfortunately, of 6 issues IAAFER raised with the Legislature regarding the map, 5 remain. The only issue we raised that was addressed was a request to see the data behind the districts that were drawn.
Adding insult to injury, the second proposal, like the first, continues to break the law it was drawn to fulfill. The map is drawn with 20 districts. For purposes of elections conducted pursuant to subsection (b-5) of Section 34-3, the City of Chicago shall be subdivided into 10 electoral districts for the 2024 elections and into 20 electoral districts for the 2026 elections.
The proposal completely disregards our existing ward structure and has effectively dismantled 39 of 50 established communities. Only 11 of 50 (22%) Chicago wards have their boundaries fully contained within the school district boundaries that proposed. Under a 20-district scenario, we would expect 40 of 50 wards (80%) with their boundaries fully contained in a school district.
There is no consistency between the number of wards associated with respective Board of Education districts. Some wards include 3 school districts; some are spread over 4 districts, and some include 6 or 7 districts. The map presents several instances in which little pockets of voters are pulled away from the center of gravity of their wards, into a school district where they couldn’t begin to make an impact on the outcome of the election because their area is too small. The chances of being heard by their elected officials on educational issues is significantly reduced.
The Legislature’s proposal does not make it easy for Aldermen and Board of Education members to collaborate effectively or for the public to hold our elected officials accountable. With so many seemingly unrelated boundaries, the needs of our residents, particularly our students, are bound to slip between the cracks.
It’s not clear what will happen when we as voters go to the polls. Will we have to vote for candidates in multiple school board electoral districts, or will we only see candidates on the ballot whose districts have some land mass in our ward? What happens to those of us who live in areas where we happen to be separated from the rest of our wards, and are only a very small section of a larger school district that is culturally and politically different from our wards? The Legislature’s proposal clearly does not provide every Chicago voter in Chicago equal opportunity to elect candidates of their own choosing.
We took a more strategic and thoughtful approach, resulting in a better solution. Our map clusters 5 wards to a single elected school board district.
In summary, our map
- Optimizes the opportunity for all Chicagoans to elect candidates of their choice
- Enables aldermen to have a single board of education member with whom to engage, rather than having several points of contact on the Board of Education
- Increases accountability of elected school board members and Aldermen on education issues within the purview of each office. Keeping the ward structure intact within each school district boundary will minimize the chances of issues falling between the cracks because only a small portion of an elected school board district falls within a specific ward, and vice-versa.
- Enables better coordination on issues that impact schools and multiple layers of government.
- Complies with Voting Rights Act of Illinois and the United States
- Creates compact, contiguous districts to the extent possible
- Keeps communities of interest together to the extent possible
The Legislature should use this historic opportunity to organize our communities around our schools and leverage the resources of the Board of Education and City government to provide academic, social and emotional support to our children. We urge the Legislature to adopt the map created by Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting (IAAFER). We use existing ward boundaries as building blocks for 10 elective school board districts. The ward clusters respect communities of interest around race, neighborhoods and cultural norms and traditions.
Valerie F. Leonard
Co-Founder
Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting
773-571-3886; valeriefleonard@nonprofitutopia.com
Members of the IAAFER Strategy Committee Include:
Tina Augustus, Founder, Westside Chamber of Commerce
Natasha Dunn, Founder, Black Community Collaborative Illinois
Dr. Carmen Palmer, PhD, Founder, Educational Village Keepers (EDVK)
Dwayne Truss, Founder, PACE
Craig Wimberly, President, Coalition of African American Leaders (COAL)
|
|
|
|
|
About COAL
COAL is an umbrella organization founded by 13 of Chicago's historic African American mens clubs. COAL's overarching mission is to identify, examine, illuminate and find resolution to issues impacting the greater community. We strive to use our collective experience, expertise and resources to improve the quality of opportunity, quality of preparedness and the quality of outcomes (expressed as 'quality of life') for our Community.
|
Founding Member Organizations
100 Black Men Of Chicago ■ Chicago Assembly ■ Chicago Connection ■ Druids Club ■ Frogs Club ■ Lunch Bunch ■ New Committee ■ Original 40 Club Of Chicago ■ Rat Pack ■ Royal Coterie Of Snakes ■ Saints ■ Sigma Pi Phi Beta-Boule ■ UIC Male Forum (now Chicago Good Health Group)
|
|
|
|
What We Believe
The Coalition of African American Leaders believes that it is important to examine the critical issues confronting the African American community where injustice, inequality and the absence of access and opportunity continue to prevail, thereby negatively impacting us as a people.
COAL is an assemblage that advocates and organizes for appropriate and responsible public policy change, system behavior change and equality of opportunity. We aim to achieve for all of our people the fullness of the life experience without any form of racism or exclusion as a deterrent.
We believe we must prepare ourselves for the opportunity of this full participation, thereby achieving the necessary education and training to participate.
|
|
|
|
Contact: Clarence Wood, Chairman 312.404.8269 - Craig K. Wimberly, President 773.350.9315
Email: publicpolicy@coalchicago.com
|
|
COAL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Illinois, USA.
Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by U.S. law.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
