Rev. Robert Jones (District 10)

Section 1 - Basic Information & General Questions

Candidate's Name  Rev. Robert Jones

District  10

Campaign link: https://www.revrobertjones.info/

Are you a current or recent CPS parent, grandparent, or guardian/caregiver? None

Are you a CPS graduate? No 

Have you ever served on a Local School Council (LSC)? Yes

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

Have you ever servd 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? 16+ years

Describe your CPS experience. 

No internal experience with CPS, my experience has been from my and the community's view and affects, based on policy changes, school closings, and facility conditions.

Why are you running for the Board of Education? 

I want to be a representative of the voice of the community to bring about positive change. to work toward educational economic equity, to make sustainable community schools as standard throughout our district and all of CPS, and to bring wholistic restorative practices within all of our schools making a better environment for all.

What is the most pressing challenge our district is facing? 

The lack of educational equity among all of our schools.

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?

By having regular community meetings and updates with the families and listening to student input.

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?

Establishing lines of communication and advocating for the curricula and the learning environment will be culturally relevant

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

The Local School Councils voice should be heard in the development of policies changes that may affect the school, its teachers, and its operation. I will set times to meet with them in person or virtually as is possible.

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

While all board members are expected to serve on one and no more than two, I would choose to serve on Student Success and Operations. At this time, I do not have any new committees to propose.

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

By designing my schedule to give the attention that my role deserves.

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?

There must be a careful look at spending that can be cut and increases that have been neglected.

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?

Not closing another school.

What experience do you have with complicated budgets?

I have had to control new spending while prioritizing existing expenditures.

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

Watch how our spending is distributed among all of our schools.

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?

Capital improvements will be given a higher priority

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? 

Do whatever we can to earnestly address the problem and commit ourselves to a real solution.

Section 4 - Educational Programs & Academic Success

How do you define a quality education?

An education the begins with teaching students to learn to read to be followed by teaching them how to read to learn and gain the cultural and life experiences that will prepare them for a productive adulthood.

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?

To do JUST that. Provide Education equity for all.

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.

Neighborhood, Selective Enrollment, Magnet and Charter schools exist in CPS to provide educational diversity. However, the Neighborhood school should be the anchor of public education in the city. While no schools should be starved to feed other schools, there should be no further expansion of Charter schools in the city.

How should the Board approach charter oversight and accountability?

By making sure that their operating policies are in line the CPS Board of Education.

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?

Culturally responsible curriculum and instruction. Because it is necessary for the stability of a community's youth.

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

With a closer watch and concern while listening to the parents.

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

Revisit and revise the process.

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?

It is a problem that we must face by exploring partnerships with surrounding entities.

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

Very seriously.

Section 5 - School Culture

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

Looking at curriculum, teachers of race and gender, and education methodologies. 

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

By working to establish partnerships with surrounding universities, colleges and health care agencies.

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

Strengthening our restorative justice practices in all of our schools.

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

More workshops, discussions, and meaningful restrictions with consequences toward those who are identified as being such.

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 must create an environment of protection and healing for the victim and justice toward the perpetrators.

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

The rights of ALL students are to be protected. While the realities of our world must be addressed and not ignored.

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

Strengthen the wholistic restorative justice practices. Making it a policy of protection.