While she has been derided for shilling for the former mayor, Rahm Emanuel, she also emerged from supportive roles after her predecessor, Forrest Claypool, was removed from office for lying to an investigator for his role in a cover up in an ethics probe., for a variety of what Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey called “foundational work,” her legacy is spotty.
A staunch ally of Emanuel, Claypool was succeeded by Jackson, in 2017, and who was criticized for this alliance; and, one of them was Troy LaRaviere, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, who said in an email to Chicago Tonight, at the time: “CPS’s Executive Officers have one job: To get their talking points from the Mayor’s education people, memorize them, and repeat them at every opportunity."
“That was Ms. Jackson’s job as (chief education officer), and the only thing that will change as CEO is her salary.” and, that salary was increased to $300,000, which some say was justified for increased testing scores.”
Jackson later forced out a resignation from his principalship of Blaine Elementary, an award winning school, recognized by Chicago Magazine in 2010 as the 16th best elementary school in the city, and also the 6th best “neighborhood school.”
Her role in the negotiations of the 50 school closures under Emanuel, was much derided, and recently Chicago Reader columnist, Ben Joravsky, said, “. . .Jackson proved her usefulness to Mayor Rahm by being the front person when he closed 50 schools, mostly in Black communities,”
Later in a 2019 Chicago Magazine profile: “ [She] made no secret to those who knew her of how unhappy she was with many decisions — including the closing of 50 schools on the South and West Sides — the district was making under Byrd-Bennett and Claypool, a local pol and Emanuel ally with no experience in the educational system.”
Her supporters, and there are many, who say that the opening of the new high school in Englewood and the Bronzeville Classical Elementary School on the city’s South Side, are to be praised has been justifiably lauded, as well as stabilizing a once moribund budget that had also earned junk bond status by a major bond rating agency.
Coming after the budget woes of Bennet and Claypool, and taking a quick look backwards, LaRaviere’s departure can now be seen as inevitable, especially since he was one of the few voices that objected to the $20 million “no bid” contract negotiated by the now disgraced Bennett from her former employer, SUPES academy, for teacher training, that in reality, was a tidy kickback: enough to pay college tuition for her grandson’s tuition, and go to casinos; she was subsequently sentenced to federal prison.
Against this background, Jackson succeeded on some fronts, and her personal narrative as a homegrown success story, has earned her points, which the local press has continued to tout.
Legitimate growth, reported Chicago Magazine: “Graduation rates and most test scores are climbing. Illinois schools will be getting an additional $375 million in state money for their next fiscal year, most of it to be distributed in “tier” funding, meaning the poorly funded systems — namely, Chicago’s — will get a greater share (around $66 million for CPS). “
On the flip side is that enrollment has seen a dramatic drop with 103 schools that have fewer than 250 students, and in an interview with WBEZ, Jackson acknowledged that “it’s a huge problem,” and “the biggest threat to the school system,” but segued to saying that communities need to speak up.
Parents did speak up when, as her critics noted, she supported “a plan to convert the existing National Teachers Academy elementary into a high school, while shipping current NTA students over to South Loop Elementary beginning in 2019.”
Changing the award winning elementary school created an uproar and WTTW reported “NTA parents have protested that move, and students at Harper have held sit-ins to voice opposition to their school’s closure.”
The district has also seen pressure from white parents for increased gentrification of the schools as well as neighborhoods, and during the Academy outrage, we reported,, “Emanuel, critics, such as Chris Kennedy, former gubernatorial candidate, this represents, part and parcel, of the gentrification of some of the city’s most developing, and desirable neighborhoods; underscoring, and accelerating, the trend of city living especially by affluent whites, with school age children.”
Equity despite a task based department may also be part of Jackson’s legacy where, in that same profile, there has been distrust from many, at the beginning of her tenure: “I have respect for Dr. Jackson as a teacher and as a principal,” says Jitu Brown, a national organizer for the social justice group Journey for Justice Alliance. “But she is not working for the communities as head of CPS. Her job is to bring educational justice to the neighborhoods, not close schools and bring in gentrification.”
Chalkbeat.org reported the end game: “Parents seeking to stop Chicago Public Schools from closing the popular National Teachers Academy in the Near South Side won a victory Monday, in what attorneys say may be the first court-ordered freeze of a school-closing measure in Chicago.
This was not only a perfect storm, but an example, say detractors of Jackson’s duplicity, especially considering that, as was reported at the time:
“NTA is—and was at the time CPS announced its plan to close it—among the highest academically performing elementary schools in Chicago. It is located at the site of the former Harold Ickes Homes, a public housing project on Chicago’s near south side. It serves over 750 students, making it “efficiently utilized” according to CPS standards. About 77 percent of its students are African American, and about 72 percent come from low-income households.”
Scandal also rocked the district when there was “an egregious investigation, this time by The Chicago Tribune which revealed the sexual abuse of students at CPS, 523, over a nearly ten year period, from 2008 to 2017, and then shortly afterwards, another painful revelation: incidents where students had sexually violated other students; and where a majority of the perpetrators, and victims, were special needs students.”
While Jackson revealed pain on hearing that she quickly swung into action, and did some basic level protections for the safety of the students; but, also showed that years of neglect in the care and management of the district took its toll, and have created an aura of distrust by many parents.
For her successor the die seems to be cast, in several directions and while the guessing game has not yet begun, and whether the person may be local, or national, tackling long held systemic problems in bay and keeping the balls in the air, while moving ahead, is far less a task, than wrestling with angels.
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