Mayor makes a last appointment to Chicago school board, choosing leader on school integration plan

Connie Anderson will fill a vacancy on Chicago’s school board representing the city’s Far South Side, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced Wednesday.

That means Anderson will get to serve for a few months in the seat she’s seeking in November, when Chicagoans will vote for all 21 members of the school board for the first time. She’s still facing a challenge to her candidacy, which will likely be decided by mid-August. There is one other candidate in that race and one expected write-in.

Anderson will likely be the last, or one of the last, members ever appointed to the school board.

She will represent District 10B, a seat previously held by Olga Bautista, who stepped down in March.

In a news release, the mayor’s office praised Anderson as a respected community leader and education advocate who has worked with Chicago Public Schools on science and technology initiatives. She helped develop student robotics teams in CPS and served for a dozen years as a member of the Friends of Ogden parent group, which helps raise money for the school.

The mayor’s office noted that Anderson played a key role in the controversial 2018 merger of two North Side schools, Ogden International School and Jenner Academy of the Arts. The complex integration plan meant bridging racial and class divides between the whiter, more affluent student body at Ogden and the Black students from lower-income families at Jenner, which had historically served children living in Cabrini-Green’s public housing.

“As a parent of CPS graduates, this work is deeply personal to me and I look forward to bringing my experience in education, entrepreneurship, and community engagement to support the continued success of our students,” Anderson said in a statement.