{"id":32435,"date":"2025-11-07T21:32:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/32435\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T21:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:32:16","slug":"former-nyc-schools-chief-a-finalist-for-chicago-schools-ceo-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/32435\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NYC schools chief a finalist for Chicago schools CEO job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the latest education news.<\/p>\n

A former New York City schools chief is one of the two finalists for the job of Chicago Public Schools\u2019 next CEO, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the situation.<\/p>\n

Meisha Ross Porter, who led New York City Public Schools in 2021<\/a>, will interview with Chicago Board of Education members, a community panel, and the mayor next week.<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s selection will mark the first time its new 21-member school board chooses a new leader for the nation\u2019s fourth largest school district. Earlier this week, WBEZ reported that the current interim CEO Macquline King was no longer in the running for the top job. Chalkbeat could not confirm the identity of the other finalist.<\/p>\n

Porter spent more than two decades working in New York City\u2019s public schools, rising up the ranks as a teacher, principal, and high-level administrator. She ultimately became the first Black woman to lead the nation\u2019s largest school system<\/a> in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic after her predecessor abruptly stepped down. <\/p>\n

She only spent 10 months at the helm of New York City\u2019s public schools, appointed in March 2021 and replaced when Mayor Bill de Blasio left office at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

In her short tenure, Porter oversaw two sweeping but late-breaking policy pushes under de Blasio that were subsequently scrapped by Mayor Eric Adams: a plan to eliminate separate gifted and talented classes<\/a> and a $200 million proposed universal curriculum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat Chicago is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on local public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

Porter is widely respected by many education leaders in New York and has also been floated as a possible schools chief for incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani has said he is also considering current Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos<\/a> for the role.<\/p>\n

Porter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Chicago Board of Education President Sean Harden nor the school board\u2019s chief of staff returned requests for comment. <\/p>\n

After leaving her post as New York City\u2019s schools chief, Porter became the president and CEO of the Bronx Community Foundation. The foundation was set up to help finance other local nonprofits, but was in turmoil during her time there. It failed to distribute most of the money it raised from 2019 to 2023 and spent more on consultants and overhead than charitable giving, according to an investigation by the news organization New York Focus<\/a>. In 2024, the organization\u2019s board of directors fired Porter. <\/p>\n

More recently, Porter has served as a visiting senior fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation, an organization that works with school leaders and families, according to her LinkedIn<\/a> profile. <\/p>\n

We’re on a need-to-know basis.<\/p>\n

Every weekday morning, Chalkbeat New York is bringing thousands of subscribers the news on public schools and education policy that they need to start their day. Sign up for our free newsletter to join them.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Board of Education is scheduled to meet Monday for a special meeting during which they plan to interview the two finalists in person, WBEZ reported this week<\/a>. The board plans to reconvene later in the week to make a final pick, board member Jessica Biggs told WBEZ. The full 21-member board could then vote on a final contract with the new leader at a meeting scheduled for Dec. 3. <\/p>\n

Chicago began its process to find a new leader in March<\/a>, hiring the search firm Alma Advisory Group, an executive search firm known for its work helping school boards hire superintendents. <\/p>\n

The previous CPS CEO Pedro Martinez was fired without cause<\/a> in late December 2024, but remained at the helm of the district until late June. Martinez, who made about $360,000 annually as head of CPS, clashed with Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teachers union organizer, over how to handle the district\u2019s finances. The tensions at one point led to Johnson\u2019s entire seven-member appointed board resigning<\/a> en masse. <\/p>\n

For the past 30 years under mayoral control, CPS\u2019s leader has been chosen by the city\u2019s mayor. <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a key lawmaker who helped pave the way for an elected school board raised the possibility that the mayor should still get the final say on who runs CPS. Legal experts and local officials disagree<\/a> on whether that is still the case and the language in state law is murky. Nevertheless, Johnson is expected to interview both finalists next week, according to a source close to the search process. He also maintains significant influence over the school board given that 11 of 21 members are his appointees.<\/p>\n

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates criticized the secrecy surrounding the finalists and the \u201chand-picked panel\u201d of community members being asked for input, calling it \u201ca fundamental failure of the democratic values this new process was meant to uphold.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBlack and Brown students and their families will bear the brunt of this decision,\u201d Davis Gates said. \u201cTheir voices must be at the center of this process, not excluded from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.<\/p>\n

Michael Elsen-Rooney is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Michael at melsen-rooney@chalkbeat.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago\u2019s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news. A former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9894,19564,19563,19562,19565,9,56,63,19561,19566,65,64,11502],"class_list":["post-32435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-chancellor-porter","tag-mayor-de-blasio","tag-mayoral-photography-office","tag-meisha-porter","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-doe","tag-nyc-doe-chancellor","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-porter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}