Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles.
...
is headed by a
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
(CEO) appointed by the
mayor of Chicago
The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...
. Currently serving as CEO is
Pedro Martinez. This job is equivalent to a
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
, and, before 1995, the occupant of this office was known as the "superintendent of Chicago Public Schools".
History
The position of chief executive officer was preceded by one of "Superintendent".
The first individual to hold this position had been
John Clark Dore
John Clark Dore (March 22, 1822 – December 14, 1900) was an American educator and politician from New Hampshire. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Dore briefly taught in Boston, Massachusetts before he was recruited to come to Chicago, Illino ...
, who assumed the position in 1854.
In 1855, the authority to remove the Superintendent was given to the Board of School Inspectors by the same ordinance which created the city's first high school, meaning the
Chicago Common Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually month ...
(today known as the "Chicago City Council") no longer held this authority.
The role of Superintendent, when established, did not have well defined duties.
The office was originally subordinate to the Board of School Inspectors, and later the Chicago Board of Education (which supplanted the Board of School Inspectors in 1857).
Its powers were limited.
The role was, in part, shaped by its officeholders over the years.
Since the ordinance which established the office did not require administrative authority to be given to the superintendent, there was no clear delineation of policymaking and administrative roles between the superintendent and the school board.
In practice, a stronger superintendency was developed, beginning under Edwin G. Cooley's tenure.
However, it was not until the 1917 Otis Bill that the superintendency was granted exclusive administrative power over schools.
In 1995, the Government of Illinois passed the Chicago School Reform Amendatory Act, which replaced the position of superintendent with that of chief executive officer.
The first individual to serve under the title of CEO was
Paul Vallas
Paul Gust Vallas (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, former CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Publ ...
.
Officeholders
Superintendents of Chicago Public Schools
The following is a table listing the individuals that held the position of "superintendent of Chicago Public Schools" from its creation in 1854 through its dissolution in 1995:
Chief Executive Officers of Chicago Public Schools
The following is a table listing the individuals that have held the position of "chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools" since it was created in 1995:
References
{{Chicago Public Schools