Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily
Chicago’s Power Shift Meets Its Trust Problem
Friday, June 19, 2026 · 5 min
Chicago Board of Education’s hybrid era puts CPS control, CEO power, and voter accountability in focus, while a corruption retrospective shows how aldermanic prerogative helped create the distrust reformers are trying to unwind.
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Show notes
Chicago Board of Education’s hybrid era puts CPS control, CEO power, and voter accountability in focus, while a corruption retrospective shows how aldermanic prerogative helped create the distrust reformers are trying to unwind.
In this episode
- Step Back — Chicago is getting its first hybrid school board, with some members elected and some appointed — so what will this board actually control at CPS, and what power does the mayor still keep?
Background sources
- Chicago’s School Board Election Is Coming This Fall — Here’s How It Will Work | Chicago News | WTTW — WTTW
- Voters to select Chicago Public Schools board, including CPS board president, on Chicago Election Day 2026 - ABC7 Chicago — Abc7chicago
- Chicago school board renews charters after delaying vote over accountability questions - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
- Who gets to choose CPS’s next CEO? Chicago elected officials disagree. - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
- Chicago’s new school board members on what it takes to lead CPS - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
- New poll finds low awareness of Chicago’s shift to elected school board - Chalkbeat — Chalkbeat
- City Council Corruption Arises From Unchecked Aldermanic Power - Center for Effective Government — Center for Effective Government
# Power Begets Corruption on the City Council **Engagement** Published: Apr 03 2023 ##### Share *“One City, 50 Wards: Does the City That Works Really Work?“, a joint series from*[*Crain’s Chicago Business*](https://www.chicagobusiness.com/)*and the University of Chicago Center for Effective Government, explores the connections between how Chicago’s city government is designed, how it…