Dive Brief:
- The Illinois State Board of Education has selected a new leader in Tony Smith, who has been hired to serve as the State Superintendent.
- Smith, the former superintendent of California's Oakland Unified School District, is known as a supporter of charter schools and foe of unions. He has ties to current Gov. Bruce Rauner and has a PhD from Berkeley's School of Education, however, he lacks teaching experience or a certification, which is considered untraditional for a superintendent.
- The outgoing superintendent Christopher Koch served for eight-years, which is one of the longest superintendent tenures in the US. The board voted to give Koch a severance package that doesn't exceed $89K.
Dive Insight:
According to the Chicago Tribune the change in leadership comes at a "tumultuous" period, with many families frustrated with the closing of neighborhoods schools, the implementation of the Common Core and new standards and tests, as well as the sheer number and weight of the state's high stakes tests (issues, which to be honest, are echoed in many states across America).
The fact that Smith did not have a teaching background (a requirement Oakland's board of education decided to waive for Smith) irked some family members in the bay area. He also closed schools there that prompted a sit in. These are of course touchy subjects for Illinois, especially for Chicago. Currently there is a Title VI case being investigated by the Department of Education, after parents argued that school turnarounds (the closing of public schools and re-opening of charter schools) in predominantly black neighborhoods are a form of discrimination and unfair to the community. They argue that minority communities are purposely being picked off and silenced, and part of their evidence is the fact that charter school boards are appointed and not elected, which means the community looses a voice in the decision-making and running of their schools.