Chicago’s school board is supposed to have a noncitizen advisory board, but it still doesn’t exist. The board was required by state legislators when they created Chicago’s elected school board. The advisory board is meant to give people without citizenship a more formal voice in school board matters since they cannot vote or run in elections.

Concerns Over Transparency and Representation

Some parents, like Socorro Diaz, are concerned about the lack of transparency and representation. Diaz, a mother of three Chicago Public Schools graduates, is interested in serving on the panel. She believes the advisory panel is an advocacy vehicle for parents who can’t be at board meetings or are fearful of revealing their identities.

The panel is supposed to advise the Board of Education on various issues that impact noncitizen children, including how to create an inclusive learning environment and sharing perspectives from noncitizen families. However, the mayor’s office has not provided a clear timeline for creating the advisory board, and the application process has not been finalized.

Claiborne Wade, a member of Kids First’s Fair Governance Task Force and parent of CPS students, understands the mayor’s office’s concerns, especially with a federal government that is targeting immigrants and noncitizens. However, he believes that not having the panel in place means that the board is potentially not hearing from certain immigrant communities whose kids are in CPS.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.