CHICAGO BOARD OF EDUCATION
Office of the Board of Education
125 South Clark Street, 6th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Telephone: 773.553.1600
Facsimile: 773.553.1601

Members of the Chicago Board of Education
Click on the Members photos to read biographies.

CHICAGO BOARD OF EDUCATION

In June 1995, the Amendatory Act empowered Mayor Richard M. Daley to appoint the five-member Reform Board of Trustees to effectuate change in an educational system in crisis. In July 1999, the Amendatory Act restored the original title of the Chicago Board of Education, expanded the Board to seven members and reinstated the position of Board Vice President.

MISSION

To establish goals, standards and policies that make a high quality public education system available to all of the children of Chicago. To oversee the operations of the Chicago Public Schools, guarantee their accountability to the goals and objectives set by the Board, and ensure that accomplishments meet the expectations of the citizens of Chicago.

2005-2006 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Approved 15 new Renaissance 2010 schools to open in fall 2006 to expand the number of innovative and high quality school options for students in their communities bringing the total number of Renaissance schools to 62 schools serving approximately 20,000 students.
• Approved the High School Transformation Project funded by the Gates Foundation for 14 high schools to receive new curricula for English, mathematics and science starting with the 2006-07 school year.
• Realized an all-time high on the 2006 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) administered to third through eighth grades. The Composite ISAT Score rose 15.2 percentage points to reach a new high of 62.5 percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards. The ISAT Reading Score rose 12.1 percentage points to 59.8 percent. The ISAT Mathematics Score rose 19 percentage points to 64.7 percent. The ISAT Science Score rose almost 15 percentage points to 64.0 percent.
• Improved the 2006 ISAT Reading and Science Scores at 92 percent of elementary schools and improved the 2006 ISAT Mathematics Score at 96 percent of elementary schools.
• Realized a Composite 2006 ACT Score of 17.4, up from last year's composite score of 17.1, with the largest gain in English, where the average score rose up to 16.9 from 16.2. The 2006 ACT score represents the biggest improvement in ACT scores since CPS made the test mandatory for all juniors in 2001, and the increase outpaced both the state and the nation.
• Increased the percentage of CPS graduates enrolling in four-year institutions for 2005. National Student Clearinghouse showed that of the 8,130 graduates in 2005 who enrolled in college, 5,207 – or 64 percent – enrolled in four-year colleges and universities. That number represents an increase from the class of 2004, when only 60.2 percent of CPS graduates who enrolled in college enrolled in four-year institutions.
• Increased first day attendance for the 2005-06 school year to an all-time high of approximately 92 percent.
• Approved the continued implementation of the Capital Improvement Program valued at more than $4 billion to reduce overcrowding, make needed capital repairs, and improve learning through technology enhancements. The 2006-2007 Program encompasses a $356 million school-construction plan that covers maintenance and upkeep of CPS schools, along with a $75 million investment in new-school construction through Mayor Daley’s Modern Schools Across Chicago plan.
• Continued E-brigade initiatives, which include providing computer access for students and parents to complete the college financial aid application on-line, offering the Illinois Virtual High School for students to take courses on-line, attaining a nearly 90 percent completion rate for the Chicago On-Line Skills Assessment for all teachers and expanding the Tech Crew Program where students help provide computer maintenance for their schools.
• Continued to improve the delivery of services and programs by ensuring the implementation of recommendations on how departments can become more efficient and accountable to students and parents.
• Provided vision screening and eyeglasses for approximately 29,223 needy children through the Vision Program for the 2005-06 school year.
• Implemented the Ballroom Dance Initiative , which provided over 500 hundred elementary school students with more exposure to dance, music and character education .
• Continued the Chicago Board of Education College Textbook Scholarship to provide a graduating senior at each Chicago public high school with a scholarship to purchase college textbooks. The scholarship program has provided 339 students with scholarships since 2003.

2006-2007 GOALS

Continue to adhere to the systemwide goals stated in the Education Plan. These goals follow:

• Building instructional capacity.
• High quality teaching and leadership.
• Learning communities and professional development.
• Support for student development, post secondary training and education.
• Schools as centers of communities in partnership with families.
• Strengthening existing high school programs.
• Expanded choice within neighborhoods.
• Accountability to support improvement in all schools.