This past November, over 800,000 Chicagoans cast their votes in the city’s first-ever school board election, a historic milestone in the governance of Chicago’s public schools. Yet roughly one in eight voting-age Chicago residents are not U.S. citizens, leaving them voiceless at the polls even though their children fill the classrooms of Chicago Public Schools.
Families are asking: How can they protect and advocate for their children if their voices go unheard?
The same law that established Chicago’s elected School Board also requires Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint members to a non-citizen advisory board, creating a pathway for families who lack the right to vote to have an official say in shaping their children’s education. The mayor alone holds the power to make this happen, and his transition report promises precisely that.
But there is no clear timeline, no indication of how members will be chosen and no guarantee that non-citizen communities will help guide the new Board of Education. Will the advisory board reflect the full diversity of Chicago’s immigrants? Will it include parents and students who know firsthand what is lacking in our schools?
These families have felt anxious about so many recent changes in the public school system and are worried they will be forgotten. Their fear is compounded by the current political climate against immigrant communities. Chicago has been singled out for large-scale immigration enforcement raids. The Trump administration has authorized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to pursue people in places once considered off-limits, such as schools and churches, putting many families’ safe spaces at risk.
With reports of federal agents attempting to enter a Chicago school last week — later confirmed to be the Secret Service — and ICE initiating raids over the weekend, fear is gripping our communities.
A road map for representation
Given this atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety, it is critical to include non-citizens’ perspectives in shaping policies that safeguard Chicago’s children and families. Establishing a Non-Citizen Advisory Board is essential, and the authority to make it happen lies solely with the mayor.
A new report by Kids First Chicago, “Promise in Practice: A New Chapter in Chicago’s School Board Governance,” offers a road map. It proposes a transparent process — at least one non-citizen parent per school board district, nominated by board members and proposed to the mayor. Non-citizen parents would form the majority, and students would serve as official members, because who better than students to reveal what’s missing in day-to-day school experiences?
To ensure the safety and privacy of non-citizen board members, the advisory board could be designed with a structure large enough to protect individual anonymity. By including a substantial number of representatives from across the city’s school board districts, no single member’s immigration status would be easily identifiable. Additionally, clear policies could be enacted to protect the confidentiality of members’ personal information, ensuring that their participation does not expose them or their families to unnecessary risks.
Having worked alongside countless immigrant mothers, I have seen firsthand how these families are uniquely attuned to their children’s experiences: navigating a complex school system, planning for life after high school and enduring the added stress of relentless anti-immigrant rhetoric.
They do not want special treatment; they simply want a chance to advocate for their children’s education. The largest number of CPS students are Latine, many from non-citizen families and they deserve a role in shaping a school system that too often overlooks their perspectives.
This advisory board would provide a formal avenue for them to share experiences, shape inclusive curricula and policies, and identify better ways to support their children’s success, both academically and emotionally.
I implore the mayor: do not delay. With so much divisive discourse surrounding immigrants, the time to act is now.
Their children, like every child, deserve the best education Chicago can offer. Let these parents have a seat at the table. Let their children see that their families are welcomed in shaping the classrooms where they spend their days.
They are here. They count. And they will not be silent when their children’s futures are at stake.
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