Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.
As Chicago’s school board election heats up, the current Board of Education voted Wednesday to not allow candidates to accept campaign donations from current or prospective vendors of Chicago Public Schools.
School board members — nearly all of whom are running in the Nov. 3 election – approved a resolution over the matter in a 16-1 vote during a meeting to review the agenda for the board’s full meeting later this month.
Elected board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith voted no.
Board president Sean Harden, who isn’t running, introduced the resolution.
“This resolution seeks to inoculate the board from any sense of impropriety or give vendors the sense that they have to pay to play,” Harden told board members last month when he first introduced the resolution.
On Wednesday, Harden said he asked the Better Government Association for its feedback on the resolution, and the good-government group described it as meeting a “high water mark.” BGA president David Griesing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The district relies on vendors for a range of services, from academic intervention to student assessments to school lunch.
City law prevents entities that do more than $10,000 of business in a 12-month period with city agencies from donating more than $1,500 a year to a political candidate. Harden’s resolution goes further: It calls on school board members to not accept any donations from current vendors, vendors who have applied to win a CPS contract, or outside lawyers who contract with CPS.
If board members accepted donations from vendors before Wednesday’s resolution, they should either recuse themselves from future votes involving those vendors or return the donation and notify the district’s general counsel and ethics officer, the resolution says.
In a text message, Smith said he voted no because the resolution appears as if it’s “targeting certain donors while allowing the most egregious political financiers and influencers go unchallenged,” referencing PACs and super PACs.
A spot check of Smith’s most recent campaign finance filings show a $250 donation from Cozen O’Connor, a law firm that has a contract with the board. Jessica Biggs, an elected board member who is running for board president, also received a $1,000 donation from the firm on April 30. Both Smith and Biggs had previously voted against increasing payments to the firm last year.
During last month’s meeting, some elected board members said the resolution should include labor unions that have contracts with CPS. The Chicago Teachers Union, through two separate political action committees, has been a major donor in school board campaigns. Harden said his focus was on vendors, and if others want more restrictions, they should introduce additional resolutions.
Smith has also received money from the SEIU Illinois Council PAC, as recently as December. The political arm of that union, which represents support staffers in CPS, also gave to Jessica Biggs, Yesenia Lopez, Jennifer Custer, Carlos Rivas, and Therese Boyle in December.
“I’m saying if we’re going to change the rules to limit the appearance of impropriety, there’s more authentic, effective ways to do it,” Smith said over text.
Illinois campaign finance records also show both Smith and elected board member Carlos Rivas each recently received $1,000 from Anthony Fiore, vice president of Open Kitchens, one of two food service companies with a multimillion dollar contract to provide free school meals in CPS.
Last fall, Fiore gave to a handful of other school board members, including Ellen Rosenfeld, Therese Boyle, and Jessica Biggs, according to state campaign finance disclosures.
Smith said he hasn’t yet decided whether he will recuse himself from future votes or return donations, and Rivas said he must consult with his attorney. Biggs said she won’t return the donations. She will recuse herself from a future vote on the law firm but will consult with ethics officials on whether she should recuse herself from future votes regarding Open Kitchens. Rosenfeld and Boyle did not immediately return a request for comment.
Biggs added that the resolution, which references vendors, feels “performative” and does not prevent individuals like Fiore from personally donating to campaigns. Fiore owns a 49% stake in Open Kitchens and his mother owns the other 51%, according to board records.
School board policy establishes several ethics and conflict-of-interest rules for board members, including that they should recuse themselves from voting on matters that involve contracts with entities that a board member may have an economic interest in. Board members must also file statements of economic interest every year.
Harden said he’s also trying to prevent a situation where so many board members recuse themselves from a vote due to a vendor’s campaign contribution that it becomes impossible for the board to do its job and decide on a given contract.
Still, resolutions are nonbinding, and this one involves the honor system: Board members themselves would be responsible “for confirming that potential donors are not CPS vendors or prospective CPS vendors or outside counsel serving the Board.” Campaign contributions are, however, publicly available on the state board of elections website.
The resolution doesn’t outline possible repercussions for board members who accept donations from vendors.
“I would encourage us to work together again on a comprehensive legislative proposal, take it to Springfield and get it passed, and then it would actually be binding,” Biggs said during last month’s meeting.
Becky Vevea contributed.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
