Meet Margaret ‘Maggie’ Cullerton Hooper, candidate for the Chicago school board’s 2nd District

Academics

About 31% of Chicago Public Schools elementary students are meeting state standards in reading, and 19% are meeting math standards. How would you approach growing reading and math achievement?^*
Anyone can list off the school-level shifts — schema, internalization, modeling — that have been proposed, studied, and attempted in public education. It would be challenging to take anyone suggesting a singular solution to student achievement seriously. This is an issue that has plagued American public education for decades and that continues to move in the wrong direction overall. Addressing the systemic barriers to learning, and the fact that most of the solutions exist outside of the walls of our schools, is an incredibly complex endeavor but it IS possible and it must be prioritized. Members of the board can seek to inform and shape public policy more broadly; we can be a resource for the electorate, and we can be a body that holds other elected officials accountable to their campaign commitments.

Do you support standardized testing more than once a year?
No. I believe that students and teachers benefit from understanding where students are in their learning and how they have progressed by the end of the year. However, measuring individual student growth and learning throughout the year is best accomplished through educator assessments.

Do you support requiring all schools to select from a certain curriculum authorized by the board of education?
No. The board does not have a track record of authorizing the best curricula. We need curricula that are evidence-based and rated highly by legitimate sources like EdReports. Standardization across the district is important (with some flexibility for schools to decide between options), but educators with curriculum development and implementation expertise, as well as individuals with diverse backgrounds, must be incorporated into an authorization strategy to ensure culturally competent options rooted in what is best for students.

Chicago Public Schools has consistently fallen short when it comes to serving students with disabilities. What would you do to improve special education?
Above all, it is essential we elect board members who do not view disability from an ableist and deficit framework. As a woman with disabilities and a parent to a child with disabilities, I have witnessed first hand the dysfunction of our SPED [special education] system, in both the amount of funding and the methodology of allocation. Every year, the district subtracts funding for outgoing students without accounting for incoming or yet unidentified student need. The result is an annual, inevitable loss of SPED staff positions and a scramble to re-hire at the mid-year funding re-allocation. In addition to supporting the needs-based funding model, I would amend the allocation methodology to account for the estimated number of incoming students with and existing students in need of learning accommodations.

CPS finances

In recent years, Chicago’s Board of Education has consistently raised the property tax levy to the maximum allowed by state law every year. Should the board continue to raise the levy to the maximum?
Yes. The investments we make in our schools are a demonstration of our values. While there is a desire to move public education funding away from property tax models, these taxes remain the central funding source. I will advocate and lobby at every level of government to increase funding for public education, and I will utilize all available options to ensure our kids receive the education they deserve.

Do you think CPS needs more funding, or do you think the school district’s budget is bloated? How would you balance the CPS budget?^*
A few of my solutions to increase funding: 1. As a board member, I would lobby the state to fund the legacy pension costs for CPS, as we are currently the only schools in the state whose legacy pensions they do not fund. 2. There are innumerable publicly-owned and unused buildings that sit idly, costing the district money to maintain. We can generate earned revenue through innovative community-centered partnerships. 3. Contracts like the one with Aramark have decimated the number of well-paying union jobs and stripped our communities of economic investment. These contracts have established an opaque process that leaves our principals without key information and our schools in disrepair while costing hundreds of millions of dollars. Sunsetting these contracts would save an incredible amount and streamline the renovation of our schools.

School choice

Do you support the current board of education’s decision to prioritize neighborhood schools and shift away from the current system of school choice with selective enrollment, magnet and charter schools?
I don’t believe this is an entirely accurate reflection of the board’s statement. They suggested a framework for a strategic planning process designed to incorporate public engagement at a level that we have not seen in the past. The timeline laid out in the resolution, however, does not allow for the kind of meaningful community engagement it purports to seek. I would prefer to see an open planning process with the CEO and school district that includes opportunities for public input and participation earlier and consistently across the timeline for planning, development and implementation of a five-year strategic plan.

Given the board of education’s decision to prioritize neighborhood schools, how would you balance supporting those schools without undermining the city’s selective enrollment schools and other specialized programs?^*
The board’s implementation of the need-based funding model allocates funds using a methodology that is evidence-based, need-centered and that finally attempts to address the legacy of extraction, segregation and oppression of marginalized students. However, the lack of transparency and disregard for community input has fueled distrust. The late budget approval timing for schools and their LSCs, the refusal to allow principal appeals and uniformity of application with no consideration of specialization, language programs or other educational commitments to students all contribute to a faulty start of this new funding model. My intention to continue and greatly improve the need-based funding model does NOT mean that I am interested in closing, underfunding or ignoring the families served by ANY schools (selective enrollment, neighborhood, charter or magnet).

The first charter school opened in Chicago in 1997 and these privately run, publicly funded schools grew in number throughout the 2000s. Today, 54,000 Chicago Public Schools students, or about 17%, attend charters and contract schools. Do you support having charter schools in CPS as an option for students?
Yes. While I do not want to see any additional charter schools in Chicago, they have become part of the fabric of Chicago’s public education landscape (as was stated in the question) and my desire to not see any additional school closings in Chicago encompasses all schools. However, I believe that all public schools should be subject to the same standards for education, discipline, admittance/rejection, etc.

Independence

If elected, how will you maintain your independence from the mayor’s office, the Chicago Teachers Union or other powerful forces shaping the school system?^*
I am a unique candidate in that I have not been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and I have not sought nor been offered a back door deal from political power brokers to receive appointment in the event of my losing the race. I am not receiving my contributions in high-dollar donations from out-of-state, corporate executives and presenting them as simply “individuals” that represent our communities or from the powerful PACs lobbying for private, outside interests. I have zero interest in building a political career at the cost of our children’s education. In this race I am accountable only to the children, parents and communities in District 2 and it will remain that way when I take office.

Police in schools

Do you support having sworn Chicago Police Department officers stationed in schools?
No. Police have no place in our schools. Children, families and communities who experience the trauma of violence need support, resources and restorative practices inside and outside of our schools. Investments in counselors, restorative justice coordinators, parent mentors, out of school programming and the arts are the pathways to building the school environments our children need and deserve. There are any number of ways that investment of public funding can impact community safety, but until our funding priorities align with our values, we are the ones who will keep us safe.

Busing and facilities

Last year, in an effort to prioritize transportation for students with disabilities as required by state and federal law, CPS canceled busing for general education students who attend selective enrollment and magnet schools and hasn’t found a solution to reinstate that service. Do you support busing for general education students?
Yes. CPS has an obligation to ensure that every student can attend an excellent public school that meets their individual needs and I believe that includes transportation. I strongly support busing for general education students and believe that the prioritization model that was outlined by the group, CPS Parents for Buses, should be adopted by the Board of Education.

About one-third of Chicago public school buildings have space for at least double the students they’re currently enrolling. Chicago officials have previously viewed under-enrolled schools as an inefficient use of limited resources — and a decade ago the city closed a record 50 schools. Do you support closing schools for low enrollment?
No. When Chicago closes schools, Black and Latino schools are disproportionately negatively impacted. Furthermore, the utilization data that informed past closures was not applied in a standardized manner across the district and was assessed out of context — for example, cuts in district funding may have forced a school to eliminate a music program and then that same school was penalized for not utilizing their music room. Transparency and meaningful, rigorous community engagement must become the practice of the district first. Finding innovative solutions to address the use of spaces should be a goal of the district.

Bilingual education

CPS has long struggled to comply with state and federal laws requiring bilingual programs at schools that enroll 20 or more students who speak a different language. The recent influx of migrant families has exacerbated the problem. What policies do you support to ensure the district is supporting bilingual students and in compliance with state and federal laws?
A meaningful investment in language services for LSCs, PAC/BAC [Parent Advisory Council, Bilingual Advisory Committee], and parents and caregivers is critical to ensure every family can be a full participant in their child’s education and in their broader school community. Leveraging the existing resources available at our libraries, community-based organizations, etc. can move our schools towards more robust and holistic engagement within and across our local schools. The best way to make sure that every child has access to high-quality, culturally relevant curriculum and the many, many other resources needed to ensure kids and families have the schools they deserve, is to increase the funds available to CPS and ensure funds are allocated using an equitable, needs-based funding model.

Top local issue

Please share one issue that’s a top concern for your community or your larger elected school board voting district.
Racial and economic disparities are the most prevalent issue impacting CPS broadly and the schools of District 2, specifically. These disparities are manifested in a shrinking Black educator workforce, gaps in Black and English-language learner student achievement, increasing economic gentrification and reduced housing access/increased housing instability. In District 2, 31 of the 37 schools have a 45% or higher low-income population and 19 of those schools have a 70% or higher low-income population. Only one neighborhood school has a majority white student body. My family’s school, Hibbard Elementary, is 71.4% low-income and 8% white. The person representing our District MUST be someone who values ALL of our schools, who believes in ALL of our students and who loves ALL of our people. Our board member should be someone who intentionally chose our community, or communities like ours, for themselves and for their children.