Oversight of Chicago’s financially-reeling school system would shift from a board controlled by Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel to an elected board under legislation approved overwhelmingly by the Illinois House on Thursday in a rare show of bipartisanship.
The measure pushed by public-sector unions but opposed by Emanuel would replace the existing, mayorally-appointed board in 2018 with an elected, 21-member board to control the nation’s third largest school system.
The measure, which passed 110-4, now moves to the Illinois Senate. It follows financial and ethical breakdowns that have severely strained Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and triggered a call for a state takeover of the system by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner.