In April, the Chicago Board of Education unanimously agreed on a clear and transparent process to select the district’s next CEO. We identified a local, minority-and-woman-owned firm — Alma Advisory Group — with extensive experience working with the district. Alma did outstanding work. With Alma’s support, we engaged in the most robust community engagement process in the district’s history, hosting 10 community engagement sessions across the city and dozens of other stakeholder meetings with students, staff, parents and myriad other partners. Together, we designed a competency-based process that was rigorous, thoughtful and thorough.
Alma recruited a pool of more than 100 candidates, including exceptionally qualified leaders of major American school systems who understand the complex work of executive leadership. These were leaders who know what it takes to deliver results for students — especially those furthest from opportunity.
The process was working well — until November. That is when the mayor and his allies on the board started running political interference. Instead of moving forward to a conclusion, they have repeatedly tampered with the agreed-upon process. Whatever the intention, the result has been extended uncertainty for our district and the public.
The news this week that the board is terminating its contract with its search firm to identify a permanent CEO and parting ways with the Alma Advisory Group is not a “reset,” nor is it a decision based on merit. It is a calculated political maneuver designed to clear the path for a candidate who will serve City Hall, not our students.
And let us be clear. The majority of the elected members of this board — members representing diverse constituencies from all across Chicago — absolutely did not want to see this happen.
Leadership transitions are always consequential. In a district as large and complex as Chicago Public Schools, they are even more so. Enrollment shifts, budget pressures and federal policy changes demand steady, trustworthy leadership. Prolonged instability at the top makes every other challenge harder to solve.
We now face a practical question: How do we restore stability, rebuild trust, and keep our focus on students and schools?
There is only one responsible path forward: Retain Macquline King as CEO through the 2027 school year and until the board is fully elected.
King is the only stability we have left. She has done laudable work under impossible circumstances. Under her leadership, CPS solved a $734 million budget deficit and delivered a balanced budget that kept cuts out of the classroom and kept our credit rating intact.
Chicago Public Schools interim CEO Macquline King attends a community engagement session on the CPS budget at Dyett High School on July 14, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
She reopened schools successfully this fall and has led the district with stability and confidence even as our communities have been targeted by federal agents. As a Black woman who is also a CPS alumna, teacher, principal and proud parent of a CPS graduate, she understands this system as an executive and from lived experience.
We’ve heard from principals in our communities, including leadership from the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association. We have heard from parents, teachers and community advocates, including representatives from the NAACP. The message has been clear and consistent: King’s leadership has brought stability during a turbulent period, and stability matters right now.
For that reason, we believe the responsible path forward is to offer King a contract through June 2027. By keeping King, we stop the chaos. We allow the fully elected board, which arrives in January 2027, to design a new search process free from the turbulence that has marked this one. It would also honor the voices of school leaders and families who have asked for consistency at the top.
This moment should not be about personalities or political alignments. It should be about institutional integrity and student learning. Chicago’s students deserve stability. Educators deserve clarity. Families deserve confidence that governance decisions are made with students’ futures at the fore.
Extending King’s leadership through 2027 would ensure that, in a time of uncertainty, our schools remain focused on what matters most: delivering consistent, high-quality education to every child in every neighborhood.
Jessica Biggs represents District 6 on the Chicago School Board. Che “Rhymefest” Smith represents District 10. They are elected members of the board’s executive search and transition team.
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