Meet Kimberly Brown, candidate for the Chicago school board’s 4th 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?^*
CPS needs to admit we’re failing and understand exactly where/why. We need a real audit & analysis to understand the depth and nuances of the gap over time. Then we focus on the bright spots and their ability to be scaled. For circumstances outside of a school’s control (ex: home instability), we need to tighten partnerships with critical agencies. We need to get every child to school (ex: general busing). We need to celebrate growth, even if the student never catches up to their grade level. We need to create KPIs that align with growth (ex: individual’s increased belief in their worth and ability to be a lifelong learner). We need internships & work programs. We need free after-school programs, medical providers in school and more support in addition to teachers to provide a real team learning community. We need to listen to our principals (the best in the country) & support them.

Do you support standardized testing more than once a year?
No. I support meaningful ways to quantify real learning impact, and standardized tests are an artifact from a past era. We can achieve the same goal of measuring/tracking progress that is more equitable, stress-free, and insightful.

Do you support requiring all schools to select from a certain curriculum authorized by the board of education?
Yes. [But we need] input into those decisions by our principals and teacher leaders to ensure the decisions are actionable, equitable and based in modern best practices. We have leaders at CPS with advanced degrees and experience in curriculum. There is no reason to place the burden on the school level. Done correctly, this drives equality and equity across our system along with supporting principals and allowing for cost efficiencies by activating district-wide purchasing power if appropriate.

Chicago Public Schools has consistently fallen short when it comes to serving students with disabilities. What would you do to improve special education?
We need an honest audit of where we are meeting expectations and failing by school and district-wide. We need CPS leadership to acknowledge we are failing special education students and rebuild trust through honesty and radical transparency. Then we need to create a clear short and long-term plan to meet legal requirements then grow to exceed for every learning difference across our city. We have amazing district neighbors we can be inspired from and experts across industries in addition to listening to parents, principals, teachers and other health and learning providers. There is no silver bullet. It will be a multi-year plan based on community input, buy-in, and real time feedback on performance and adjustments.

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?
No. Not right now. We need to rebuild trust and show accountability to citizens before we can successfully access additional funds. We need deep and clear transparency in our taxes, budget and spending before we can successfully ask for more funds.

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?^*
We need a real audit (potentially a forensic financial audit) to show the funding inefficiencies and provide radical transparency into areas to ‘de-bloat’ and areas lacking investment. First, we do a detailed audit and analysis of budget as well as cash flow. Then we need to factor in future cost increases. Then, we find efficiencies (they won’t fill all the gaps but there should be no inefficient waste or overspending if its avoidable — and there are plenty of areas we can improve). Then, we show the operational and capital expenditure gaps at a school level and district level. Finally, we agree on the future state and vision for CPS based on real outcomes. Once we see our current state reality and future state vision, we can work with community and elected leaders across our government systems to build a modern plan. There is no easy answer because its untangling decades of mismanagement and corruption. The solution is real teamwork.

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?
No. This is not a zero-sum formula. We can and need to grow both. An effective board leader will have experience in growing resources. Creating in-fighting dynamics is a cultural artifact of CPS’ deep discriminatory history. We need to employ a proven growth mindset and model that grows resources for all. We cannot and will not pit CPS school communities against each other anymore. There are many ways to improve neighborhood schools without removing funds from other CPS schools.

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?^*
Every board is presented with resource challenges, and CPS is no different. First, we create a clear culture and vision of One CPS that treats every school as equally important and deserving. Second, we need to create radical transparency in the budgets so everyone sees where the resources and needs are located now and future projections. Third, we need to work with the community and elected officials to increase resources through innovative ways. Chicago was built by community innovation; CPS will be saved the same way.

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. We should not close schools, including existing charter schools if they’re performing (if not performing, we need to address with current governance oversight). We do need to hold their educators and leaders accountable to the same standards as other CPS schools. When you negatively single out a charter school in CPS, you’re only hurting the students and families by creating divisive negativity and shame. We are One CPS. Again, I don’t believe in charter expansion, but we have more important issues than fighting against/within ourselves.

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?^*
First, I’m running as an independent candidate without the backing of those officials. I hope journalists and voters look at real connections and see those deep ties are not easily undone. Second, voters can look at my leadership track record and talk to my colleagues to know I have never cow-towed to any machine or organization that supports an agenda that is working against the public plan and best interests of constituents. I have no former or future interest in supporting the groups that contributed to the problems of the city. I have every reason to bring common sense leadership and integrity to the city I love and call home.

Police in schools

Do you support having sworn Chicago Police Department officers stationed in schools?
No. I do not support a district-level contract between CPS and CPD. I do support principals and LSCs getting the support (professional, monetary, etc.) to triage an immediate safety concern with a clear path and outcome specific to that school community and point in time.

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. We need to get children to school. We need to normalize and generalize busing to ensure there is not a culture of “othering” those who get the access. When we don’t support all children getting to school in a safe and district-managed way, we’re not serving the public good and are actually hurting working parents (mostly women) and Chicago’s economy.

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. We need to decouple/reframe the words and meaning for “school closing.” A building and a school community are two separate entities, similar to faith-based or community-based groups. We need to work with the school community (which is the humans) to decide how best locate their learning experience. We know years in advance if the building isn’t working. We need to sit with the community, in the community, and work to find the best phyiscal location for that school community. We should never close a school. We should work with the school to improve or relocate their community if the building isn’t working for them.

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?
We need an honest audit of where we are meeting expectations and failing by school and district-wide. We need CPS leadership to acknowledge we are failing multilingual students and rebuild trust through honesty and radical transparency. We need to get creative and remove barriers to immediate common-sense language support for non-English speaking learners by creating innovative ways to get bilingual educators and support staff in the classroom. We should also look at other countries’ education systems that support multilingual learners for inspiration to build a long-term plan in our globally connected city and world. Finally, we need to explore technology that creates web and app-based experiences for our families to engage with CPS across languages and communication modalities.

Top local issue

Please share one issue that’s a top concern for your community or your larger elected school board voting district.
Budget and spending transparency. Chicagoans want to understand where the money is going and how it’s being spent. They love their local schools. They are not happy with CPS’ central office’s management. We need to change the culture to be accountable, responsible and radically transparent to regain trust of the community and grow public education successfully.