CHICAGO – State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) is celebrating Friday’s signing of legislation he sponsored that would allow local school councils of Chicago Public Schools to fill vacancies in almost any situation.

“Parents, students and other members of the community have the right to have a say in how the schools in their area are run, and local school councils are how that right is realized,” Peters said. “If a small technical rule prevents them from being able to meet, then they need to have the recourse to fix that issue, and this law accomplishes this.”

In general, a local school council is not prevented from filling its own vacancies; however, when membership drops below the minimum number required to start a meeting, LSCs often find their hands tied. Senate Bill 652 lowers the minimum number of member required from seven to four so that vacancies can always be filled – even in situations with a large number of vacancies.

“We’re coming out of a global pandemic that put the future of public education into a state of uncertainty, so it’s extremely important that local school councils are still able to meet and make decisions about how schools are run,” Peters said.

The new law is effective immediately. Earlier in the year, it had passed both chambers of the General Assembly with no opposition.