(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois House had advanced a plan to move up the election of the Chicago School Board but it faces uncertainty in the Senate.
The House voted in favor of boundaries for 20 new school board districts.
Seven would be majority Black. Six would be majority Latino. Five would be majority white and two school board districts would have no dominant racial group.
Also, there is a plan to elect 10 board members next year. The rest would be appointed by the mayor, along with the board president.
During a House Executive Committee earlier Wednesday, however, Rep. Ann Williams, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the House version approved Wednesday, said that those who have contracts with Chicago Public Schools would not be allowed to serve on the board.
She also stressed that CPS employees would not be able to serve. Members of unions would be allowed to run, she said. That would include members of the Chicago Teachers Union, although they would need to step down from their CPS jobs if they were elected, like any other employee of the district.
All board members would be elected in 2026, but it’s unclear where this is going in the Senate.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, who proposed electing all board members next year, said, in a statement, the legislation has “woefully inadequate ethical provisions" and time is ticking away for the session.
The Chicago Teachers Union said its “disappointed” by what it calls an eleventh hour surprise.
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