For the first time in nearly a year, the Chicago Public Schools now have a permanent chief executive officer, as board members approved a contract for interim CEO Dr. Macquline King.
"The people have spoken," Board of Education president Sean Harden said before the Monday afternoon vote, joining several fellow board members praising Dr. King's stewardship of the district after taking over from fired CEO Pedro Martinez in June of 2025. "You are the right leader of our time, and I'm excited for what's before us."
In remarks after the vote, the Chicago native and former teacher, principal and mayoral adviser told board members that the city's public school students are doing better in class, and more students are graduating from the city's public high schools.
"We cannot - and we will not - allow financial headwinds to jeopardize those hard-won victories and our students' confidence," she said. "I will pass budgets that are moral documents ... budgets that ensure the business of the district never gets in the way of the success of our students."
Dr. King led passage of the current year's school budget, which was approved without the short-term borrowing advocated by Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies to pay for teacher raises and pension obligations. The district did benefit from more than $500 million in economic development (TIF district) surplus from the city, but CPS faces a similar budget gap for the coming year, and it's not clear whether the city intends to declare a similar TIF surplus.
Dr. King also praised students' resilience in bouncing back from the pandemic and from last fall's immigration sweeps through Chicago: "Everything we do, we do for them ... so their voices must be the heartbeat of our decision-making."
She also pledged to be accessible and transparent to all stakeholders.
"Strong leadership isn't a monologue, it's a conversation ... one that we very much started on this floor today," Dr. King said.
She'll earn $380,000 in the first year of her contract, which Chalkbeat Chicago reports is higher than what the district paid Martinez, who now is the head of K-12 education in Massachusetts.
Dr. Macquline King had been interim chief; replaces fired CEO
