Pressure and time: Chicago navigates its elected school board era

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news. In the eight months since Chicago’s partially elected, partially appointed school board was seated, many of its members have had to exercise a muscle their predecessors weren’t required to flex: Figuring out what the public wants. The 21-member Chicago Board of Education has already navigated most of the core functions of a school board, including picking an interim leader, approving the Chicago Teachers Union contract, balancing a budget with a $734 million deficit and grappling with the hotly protested proposed closure of seven charter schools. The board members have worked through these issues while wrestling with time constraints, internal politics, and external pressure that hasn’t existed before, according to interviews with 15 current and one former board member. Take, for instance, Ebony DeBerry’s journey from community activist to elected school board member. After easily winning