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Former New York City schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter is once again a finalist for the top job in Chicago’s public school system, the school board announced Friday.
Chalkbeat first reported that Porter, who served as chancellor at the tail end of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, was a finalist for the Chicago job in November, but the process was bogged down by in-fighting for several months.
At the same time, Porter was also reportedly among the top contenders for schools chancellor under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, but the job ultimately went to Manhattan superintendent Kamar Samuels.
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The other finalists for the Chicago job are interim CEO Macquline King and Sito Narcisse, a former superintendent of East Baton Rouge Parish schools in Louisiana, and chief of secondary schools in Washington, D.C., the school board said.
During Porter’s short tenure as chancellor, which started in early 2021 while the COVID pandemic was in full swing and ended when Mayor Eric Adams took office in January, 2022, she was seen as a steady hand who had the respect of district and school staffers. Porter, who rose from teacher to principal to superintendent in the Bronx, also oversaw the introduction of a long-promised plan to phase out separate gifted and talented classes, which have long been starkly segregated. (The plan was swiftly overturned by Adams.)
After she left the school system, Porter took over as CEO of the Bronx Community Foundation, an organization charged with distributing philanthropic donations to needy local organizations. But the foundation was in turmoil during her tenure and failed to distribute most of its donations, according to reporting from New York Focus. Porter was fired by the organization’s board in 2024.
She has served as a visiting fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation since 2024, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Porter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.