Kimberly Brown (District 4)

Section 1 - Basic Information & General Questions

Candidate's Name  Kimberly Brown

District 4

Campaign link  https://www.kimberlybrownforchicago.org/

Are you a current or recent CPS parent, grandparent, or guardian/caregiver? CPS parent

Are you a CPS graduate? No

Have you ever served on a Local School Council (LSC)?  No

Have you ever served on a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)?  No

Have you ever served on a Bilingual Advisory Committee (BAC)?  No

Have you ever served on a Community Action Council (CAC)?  No

Have you ever worked in a CPS school?  No

How long have you lived in the district you are running to represent? 15+ years

Describe your CPS experience. 

“I hope he is now reassured that art has NOTHING to do with ‘coloring inside the lines’.” This is a text message I saved from Tiffany Foster, a Nettelhorst Preschool Teacher, celebrating my son’s art being accepted into the CPS Reverberate exhibit in Spring 2024. Someone told him in preschool that “good art and coloring” needed to stay inside the lines, and he struggled with that in preschool. I disagreed and told his teacher, Ms Tiffany, who helped me reassure him and build his confidence. Two years later, he is being celebrated as a young artist. Most CPS parents love their schools and teachers. That is why we choose CPS and stay. That is why I am fighting and running for a volunteer position on the Board of Education. 

“Northside families can fundraise.” This is a quote from the current CEO/Superintendent responding to my comment about the challenges with school funding in the spring of 2024. Schools surrounded by families with higher household income can fundraise to a degree, but it is not a viable solution, an appropriate response by a District leader, nor the reality for Northside CPS families. This is the issue with the cold, disconnected, and unaccountable culture in CPS HQ that has to change and has dissatisfied the majority of Chicagoans. We choose CPS despite central leadership. That must change. 

Why are you running for the Board of Education? 

I am running because we choose Chicago and public schools. I have the experience and empathy to improve them for everyone. I want to create a sustainable system of governance across CPS that prioritizes equality, equitable resource distribution, innovation, transparency, and strong principalship. I believe that public schools are essential for creating vibrant, safe cities and viable futures. I am committed to ensuring every student feels valued and is equipped with the skills to learn throughout their lives. I see strong public education as the foundation for broader societal improvements, including economic growth. I am a dedicated community leader with the experience of organizational leadership and empathy as a CPS parent and educator to be a Board member. I come from a working-class family that instilled me with the values of hard work and education. I have worked as a journalist, non profit entrepreneur, digital marketing executive, and adjunct professor (currently on faculty at Roosevelt University and Lake Forest Graduate School of Management). In addition to my professional accomplishments, I have a rich background in public service. I am the descendant of a family deeply involved in civic life, with relatives volunteering as precinct captains, firefighters and educators. My personal life also reflects my commitment to service living with three generations of combat veterans. I have lived experiences and deep empathy for our most vulnerable youth. I am a sexual assault survivor. I am a survivor of suicide. I am a survivor of domestic / intimate partner violence. I grew up with food insecurity. I would have run away if I was a kid during Covid. School was my escape. I have been a caregiver to my siblings. I carry the empathy to understand the deep struggles as a child and a mother. We can and will do better.

What is the most pressing challenge our district is facing? 

The lack of busing and safe, reliable access to school is the biggest challenge facing the district. If you can’t get to school, then nothing else matters. I am proud that I am the only candidate in District 4 to earn the endorsement of CPS Parents for Buses. Every student should have access to safe community transportation to avoid “othering” and stigmatizing low income children. Everyone should ride the bus or participate in a walking group or bike bus as the great equalizer and democratization of public schools in Chicago. Let’s build a CPS-wide community culture and have it start with a basic bus* to school. *Redefining “bus” from being big and yellow to being a group commute, whether that is a bike, walking, and/or something else.

Section 2 - Board Responsibilities & Commitments

How will you interact with CPS students and families in your district to ensure that the voices of the most impacted are heard and understood?

I will have a 5-point process for communicating progress: 

1) Reformat Board meetings to prioritize the Board and executive leadership to report progress to the community as the first agenda item for each meeting. 

2) My own weekly digital updates (website, newsletter, social media) with volunteer support for language translation. 

3) I will attend District 4 LSC meetings as well as host my own monthly community “coffee chats” at rotating locations around the district as well as virtually. 

4) I will have regular meetings with local, city and state elected officials and community leaders to ensure key updates are included in their communications. 

5) I will communicate with Chicago journalists (including student journalists) to ensure all questions are answered and get reported to the community.

Also, the Board has collected information from the community on multiple occasions over the last two years. Even if CPS can’t do everything the community is asking for (now or ever), leaders need to acknowledge community members and provide a path forward. 

- Return synthesized information that community members have already shared (the good and the bad; CPS leaders can’t cherry-pick) in an online site where users can provide additional information or clarifying feedback. 

- Revise based on community inputs and repost online for a “living” community survey that can be updated quarterly. 

- Append data with CPS’ plans to address the community needs. Categories may include: 

-- In action (when, updates, results) 

-- Coming soon (when, where, how) 

-- Roadmap (where in Strategic Plan) 

-- Want to learn more (scheduled learning session) 

-- Can’t do / Delegation to relevant community partner group

What specific actions will you take to address and repair the historical harms within Chicago Public Schools, and how will you ensure that students, parents, and educators are actively engaged in the healing and trust-building process?

We need to make sure we are focused and supporting candidates with actions and experience in ethical governance and creating a culture at the highest level at CPS that centers on: 

- Follow the Rule of Law: Don’t create policy loopholes or use lawyers to outmaneuver when unable to comply. 

- Anti-Corrupt: There are candidates whose household expenses will be paid for by spouses working as state lobbyists, which is an ethical issue. Create ethics watchdog groups and term limits. 

- Participatory: Organized, documented conversations with community members in addition to monthly Board meetings. 

- Accountable: Admit failures and mistakes to the public when they occur and fix them. - Transparent: All information needs to be searchable, multilingual, mobile-first. Wins and challenges must be shared. 

- Responsive: Clear time frames for engagement and answers to questions along with path to resolution for “dead-end” issues and “non answers”. 

- Effective & Efficient: Produce results with the best use of resources. This means improved contracts and procurement. 

- Equitable & Inclusive: Views of minorities and most vulnerable used in decision-making. Produce a scorecard to use in decision making to ensure accountability.

What is your understanding of the Board’s relationship with Local School Councils? How will you collaborate  with LSCs in your district?

The role of the Board is to provide the strategic direction and oversight for the district, including governance, performance, procurement, contracts, budget, employment, and more. The purpose of the Board is to keep “north star” vision and grow resources to ensure organization’s success beyond any one person or time frame. It governs the “soul” (aka Culture) of the organization and is the fiduciary to the citizens of Chicago and Illinois. It holds full accountability (legal and ethical) for every human who engages with any CPS experience or employee.

List the Board committees you intend to join and describe any new Board committees you will propose.

I will volunteer to join the Finance committee and the Special Education committee. I would like to see a committee focused on real principal leadership and voice. I would also like to start a committee for Culture change management to improve the culture of HQ that centers on the schools.

How will you prioritize your time to ensure you give your role on the Board of Education the attention it deserves?

As a working parent, I know how to prioritize. I will work part-time as an adjunct professor to earn income unrelated to CPS and ensure time for this incredible responsibility. My children are in school full-time. I have neighbors, caregivers, and family to support. We need working Board members that feel the pressure to manage time to ensure true empathy with our caregivers across Chicago when we make decisions. I hope voters look at who will be living on money from state lobbyists, government officials, or the CTU to pay their bills and how that will impact their ability to be independent and ethical.

Section 3 - Budget & Facilities

What are your thoughts on the current proposed district budget for SY24-25? As a board member, where would you look to increase funding and where would you make budget cuts?

We need a forensic financial audit to see exactly where the money is flowing and how. We need full and easy to understand transparency for citizens around Illinois. We need to fix our procurement (CPS pays 1.2-1.5 over retail and is financially inefficient), and we cannot expect to get additional resources if we cannot rebuild trust as a fiscally responsible agency for taxpayers. We need to simultaneously advocate for equitable state and federal resources, while holding elected officials and organizational leaders accountable for the solutions they could be doing right now and their role in the 1990s pension holidays. We need independent leaders from existing power-brokers to make a change.

Funding for CPS is in a particularly precarious situation due to state shortages to Evidence-Based Funding (EBF), the end of pandemic funding, and more. What would you prioritize when facing these overwhelming budget realities?

Education is not a zero sum game. Without full transparency to the financials, we cannot make promises. We need a qualified board who has experience with multi-billion dollar budgeting and resource growth. We need fiscal stewards who are independent of elected officials. We need a real forensic final audit and full data transparency to the public in less than 60 days of the election + a constructive partnership with the CSP CFO to build a viable OpEx and CapEx plan.

What experience do you have with complicated budgets?

I have more than 15 years experience managing complex, multi-billion dollar budgets within complex organizations with multiple stakeholder groups. My resume is fully available on my website and LinkedIn with testimonials from colleagues.

What will you do to ensure equitable and transparent funding for neighborhood schools?

I will use my experience as a journalist and marketing / communications leader to share data in a transparent and clear way on mobile-friendly websites available in multiple languages with modern data visualizations. And I will engage journalists, community leaders, professionals to work with the data to explain it and optimize outcomes.

Many parents have expressed an urgent need for capital improvements in their schools. What steps will you take to ensure that schools have functioning facilities, particularly bathrooms and water fountains?

1. Financial audit to see where the money is going now. 2) Procurement to improve spending efficiency and real contract competitiveness. 3) Innovation workshop/competitions with the community similar to how Chicago was rebuilt after the Great Fire. 4) Rebuild fiscal trust to advocate for CapEx investment at Federal level. 

Bussing challenges have a long and fraught history in CPS. The last few years have been particularly difficult for special education students, as well as those who attend magnet and selective enrollment schools. Given CPS’s recently announced plans for the coming school year, How do you plan to address the ongoing school bussing challenges and ensure that all students have reliable, safe, and equitable transportation to and from school? 

I am proud to be the only endorsed candidate in District 4 by CPS Parents for Buses. They and I have a variety of solutions outside of the traditional big yellow bus. We need to get all children to school on safe, district-provided transportation now, whether that’s a group vehicle, bike buses, walking buses, or something else. This is a data and math problem that should have been solved 3 years ago.

Section 4 - Educational Programs & Academic Success

How do you define a quality education?

If the child and the caregiver believe they received it, and they perform to state and federal educational standards. 

Also,

 - Attendance from PreK-12. 

- Optional daily attitudinal surveys for caregivers, students, and employees.

 - Continue to assess grade-level progress for reading (most important), math, etc. based on state standards.

- Bi-annual survey for students to capture if they felt like they learned something this past year, are excited to keep learning, and know how to learn outside the classroom. 

- Bi-annual survey for parents to capture if they felt like their student(s) got a quality educational experience. 

- Bi-annual survey for employees to capture if they felt like their students learned, grew, and developed an ability to learn beyond the classroom. 

What is the role of the Board of Education in ensuring quality educational programs for all students regardless of their background, zip code, or school type?

The role of the Board is to provide the strategic direction and oversight for the district, including governance, performance, procurement, contracts, budget, employment, and more. The purpose of the Board is to keep “north star” vision and grow resources to ensure organization’s success beyond any one person or time frame. It governs the “soul” (aka Culture) of the organization and is the fiduciary to the citizens of Chicago and Illinois. It holds full accountability (legal and ethical) for every human who engages with any CPS experience or employee. 

Public schools are the great equalizer and opportunity creator in our democracy. They are a place for humans to acquire critical skills, learn how to learn beyond the classroom, build community, and shape their lives based on their interests and abilities, not the situation they were born into. Strong public schools create strong communities because they attract diverse humans, which drive business investment and infrastructure support. Strong public schools mean maintained streets and sidewalks for people, bikes and cars. Strong public schools create diverse housing that is well-maintained for all income levels and family types. Strong public schools create parks and green spaces and active local elected officials. The United States Bill of Rights did not include public schools, but soon after they became the norm in every community because citizens know our communities are unique, powerful, and better because of them. 

What are your views on the roles of neighborhood, selective enrollment, magnet, and charter schools within CPS? Please address each type of school in your answer.

Every school has a critical role. This is not a zero-sum game. Children go to these schools right now, and I will not minimize their importance and beautiful experiences. Public schools create vibrant economies. Every school should be a high-quality choice for a family.

How should the Board approach charter oversight and accountability?

With the same equity lens they do for all other public schools. There should be no difference in treatment. Charter school students are CPS students. Any difference in treatment undermines the values of equality and equity.

The initial recommendations of the Black Student Success Working Group were shared earlier this summer. Which of those recommendations will be most important to incorporate into the district’s strategic plan and why?

The district’s strategic plan was released the week this questionnaire was due, and the majority of the recommendations were incorporated. I think we need to focus on the methodology and tactical plans to achieve those recommendations for Black and Brown students across Chicago.

How will you work to ensure special education assessments and placements are more timely and equitable? 

Funding and time allocation show priority. We need to ensure CPS is following the law. Right now, CPS is not compliant in my opinion and from my vantage point and what I have heard. Inside of lawyers fighting lawsuits, we need to work with sister districts and experts across Illinois to work through the pipeline in the short term and identify a better long-term system solution within 2 years before the 2026 election.

What should the Board board do to guarantee students are receiving all of their required IEP minutes?

Funding and time allocation show priority. We need to ensure CPS is following the law. Right now, CPS is not compliant in my opinion and from my vantage point and what I have heard. Inside of lawyers fighting lawsuits, we need to work with sister districts and experts across Illinois to work through the pipeline in the short term and identify a better long-term system solution within 2 years before the 2026 election. Support a culture change makers. Work with partners to get job done now. Innovate. Get out of our own way. Focus on the outcome needed, even if the “how” doesn’t include the CTU or engrained political interests. Children come first.

In 2021, even before the recent influx of asylum seekers, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) put CPS on a corrective action plan because the district was out of compliance with bilingual education requirements. To date, CPS still fails to staff bilingual programs and certified bilingual teachers at all schools that need them. What steps would you advocate for the district to take to solve this problem?

We have people who are bilingual with classroom training and trying to become teachers from other countries or states. We need to innovate and cut through our own bureaucracy to get them in the classroom ASAP. That means short- and long-term solutions at the state level to put children first above political interests.

How would you advocate for the reinstatement of comprehensive art, music, and library programs to our schools? 

We also need journalism programs too. We need to manage our money and procurement better. We need to show taxpayers, state and federal government officials that we can manage the money we have, so we can advocate for additional funding. That funding results in more programs and professional staffing.

Section 5 - School Culture

What do you believe is the role of the Board in fostering a culture of belonging for every CPS student?

The purpose of the Board is to keep “north star” vision and grow resources to ensure organization’s success beyond any one person or time frame. It governs the “soul” (aka Culture) of the organization and is the fiduciary to the citizens of Chicago and Illinois. It holds full accountability (legal and ethical) for every human who engages with any CPS experience or employee.

What are specific steps you will propose to increase in-school mental health support for our children? 

In-school health centers that include mental health support for every CPS school. Bring patient care to the patient. This can be funded by sharing funding from different agencies since we’re working for the same outcome.

What policies do you propose to help stop bullying in CPS schools?

- Advocacy for social media companies to be legally classified as publishers, which would make them accountable for content 

- No cell phones or smart device policies 

- Active cultures and education against bullying 

- Adults in CPS modeling the behavior 

- Clear policies and consequences 

- Community and caregiver-focused development (bullying can stem from home life problems)

What specific steps will you take to address and reduce racial bias in our schools, both in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and disciplinary practices?

Empower Chief Education Officer to build centralized curriculum options (ex: 5 options to allow for equality and equity across schools) that are more transparent to community and caregivers. I would also look into hiring curriculum support professionals for teachers to engage their class planning cross grades, subject areas or schools (done in other districts). Finally, having professional librarians and journalists in the district schools will inform this up-skilling through classroom and community programs.

Students who report sexual assault and violence in CPS schools often feel that their voices are not heard. What is your approach to ensuring meaningful accountability and what will you do to ensure that this type of violence stops?

We need to create a culture in CPS HQ that takes reports of sexual assault as the reporting of crimes and a top priority to investigate, not avoidance and protection of executives and the organization. We need to review and rework our policies to ensure they are simple, transparent and in common language. We also need an independent Board and independent committee to ensure all reports are handled outside the space they occurred to reduce the fear of retaliation or mistreatment. ***We also need legally-compliant teachers sex education district-wide.

How do you plan to ensure that LGBT+ students are protected and supported in CPS, both in anti-discrimination policy and inclusive curricula?

Empower Chief Education Officer to build centralized curriculum options (ex: 5 options to allow for equality and equity across schools) that are more transparent to community and caregivers. I would also look into hiring curriculum support professionals for teachers to engage their class planning cross grades, subject areas or schools (done in other districts). Finally, having professional librarians and journalists in the district schools will inform this up-skilling through classroom and community programs. ***We also need legally-compliant teachers sex education district-wide.

Is there anything you would change about the recently adopted Whole School Safety plan? What can the Board do to ensure its implementation?

Empower principals with the resources (money, time and professional development or coaches) they need to be successful in their unique school community.