School board candidates discuss differentiated learning and quantum careers at Southeast Side Forum

EAST SIDE — With just over a week until Election Day, Southeast Side residents met with candidates running for a seat on their district’s elected school board to discuss students’ educational needs, ideas for shaping curriculum and ways to build career paths in quantum computing.

Three candidates in the District 10 school board race in Chicago met with about 50 neighbors during a Friday morning forum at Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, 9805 S. Ewing Ave. in the East Side.

Educational consultant Adam Parrott-Sheffer, artist Che “Rhymefest” Smith and nonprofit CEO Karin Norrington-Reaves were on the panel. Pastor Robert Jones and candidate Rosita Chatonda were not present.

District 10 extends along the lakefront from 31st Street south to the city limits and west to Parnell Avenue, encompassing portions of city wards 4 through 10, 17, 20 and 21.

Neighbors on Friday’s panel focused on concerns about the city’s southeastern demographics and future development.

They asked candidates about their plans to prepare Chicago Public Schools students for work at universities quantum development in south chicago and the board’s role in shaping curriculum for a diverse student population.

To view the entire forum, which included a Spanish translation, click here.

Quantum Career Pipeline

With a quantum computing campus planned for the former South Works steel mill – founded by startup PsiQuantum and with strong political and financial support from the state and the city — Candidates were asked how they would ensure local students have access to careers on campus.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and city officials have pledged to work with CPS and higher education institutions to create more pathways for South Side residents to enter the quantum computing industry.

Parrott-Sheffer said the community needs “tougher contracts and stronger conversations” with campus project sponsors, which would force developers and tenants to play a major role in building a quantum career path.

“We must ensure that our partnerships with the companies that are implementing this (project) see our students as the first employees and future leaders of these organizations and institutions,” he said.

Smith said the district needs to leverage children’s existing interests in video games, music and other subjects to introduce them to engineering, programming and other sciences.

“The community needs to know how to translate this into education,” he said. “We need to know what to ask for. There are people in the city who work with quantum computers and they never helped organize any of the possible training that we can see now.

Norrington-Reaves called for curricula to be developed to better prepare students for computer-related careers, and for quantum campus sponsors to sign a community benefits agreement to provide local employment, local economic development investment, skills training and other project-related benefits.

“We want to make sure that our parents and young people have access to these jobs,” she said. “The people who will work for this company need to volunteer in our schools and help train our children.”

Culturally relevant curricula

Candidates were asked how they would shape school curricula to reflect the history and diversity of Chicago and its cultures.

Parrott-Sheffer said the school board should seek help from education and local government leaders in Chicago to help develop curricula that “return to local communities.”

“The board can help make sure we build strong, local programs, but we can also work with local experts,” he said.

Smith also called on community members to lead the curriculum, citing the achievements of former Mayor Harold Washington and Ald. The story of Peter Chico’s (10th) family in the South Side steel mills as examples of educational topics that locals can connect with.

“We have great giants around us,” he said. “All we have to do is bring the community into the school.”

Norrington-Reaves said cultural representation is important in curricula because students should see themselves reflected in the novels they read and the math problems they solve.

“We need to have diverse reading, we need to have diverse writing, we need to have opportunities to be known, and we don’t have that,” she said. “Part of the challenge is that curriculum decisions are made by principals.”

Neurodiverse needs of students

One participant asked the candidates how the board should meet the needs of neurodiverse students, which means children with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other learning and thinking differences.

Parrott-Sheffer, who said he is the parent of a disabled child and caregiver of a disabled adult, said the district needs to seek direct input from neurodiverse students to ensure an equitable education.

Parrott-Sheffer also criticized the speed with which teachers must review the annual curriculum, saying two weeks “is not enough time to plan” how they will respond to students’ unique needs.

“We have 330,000 students in our district who need all kinds of things, which means we need a flexible curriculum,” he said.

Smith, who said his son had an individualized education program at school, said athletics, art and other extracurricular activities are essential resources for neurodiverse students.

Smith also called for more funding for paraprofessionals and counselors in special schools, the provision of “a nurse in every school” and the provision of “safe, high-quality transportation” to and from school.

“As a school board member, I want to make sure that all of our comprehensive services – extracurricular activities, sports and arts – help young people with neurological differences,” he said. “When they start engaging with art, you start to see them develop their own narratives and heal through art.”

Norington-Reaves, who said her daughter is blind, said she previously had to oppose the district’s plans to educate her daughter in a “renovated storage unit that would house a teacher and two children.”

Norrington-Reaves said every student must receive an education tailored to their abilities, which requires flexible curricula, more intensive training of teachers and support staff, “inclusive classroom environments” and more accessible extracurricular activities.

“My daughter can’t go to extracurricular activities because she has no one to stay with. There is no helper after school,” she said.

Multilingual education

Another participant asked how candidates would support multilingual education in District 10, which includes communities with large Spanish-speaking populations.

Parrott-Sheffer called for more “bidirectional,” bilingual schools where “all classes are taught in English and Spanish,” he said. He said every teacher across the city should also be certified in English as a Second Language or Bilingual Teaching.

Smith said professional development for teachers must go beyond English and Spanish and include other languages ​​common in Chicago, such as Arabic and Polish. He also developed immersion programs in which schools can encourage community members to share music, food and other cultural elements.

Norrington-Reaves proposed “bilingual programming” in schools. For example, kindergarten through third grade can be taught in the students’ primary languages, fourth grade will be a combination of primary language and English, and the remaining classes will be taught in English, she added.

Will they meet with Southeast Side residents?

Parrott-Sheffer, Smith and Norington-Reaves pledged to meet with Southeastern groups such as Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Alliance of the Southeast, Claretian Associates and others to address community concerns within their first 100 days in office , if they are elected.

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