Meet Therese Boyle

Therese’s North Star: “How does this decision impact outcomes for Chicago’s children?” Throughout my career as an educator, my guiding light was to ensure I was focused on supporting students’ educational success and their social-emotional well-being. I will focus on the students, teachers, school leaders, families, and school communities of District 9. I will keep the lines of communication open and encourage participation. I will do the reading and the research. I will make informed decisions. My decisions will be made based on my experience as an educator, my knowledge of trauma-informed practices, my financial background, and my reading and research. My decisions will reflect my commitment to: ethics, education law, labor law, and financial oversight.

The Chicago Public Schools operate on a $9 billion budget and we are currently implementing major budget changes. Moving away from Student Based Budgeting (SBB) and seeking to bolster neighborhood schools in high-need areas. Funds will be allocated to individual schools with the goal of providing a baseline of education programming at each school based on needs.

CPS currently faces a structural deficit of nearly $700 million. This structural deficit has been reduced to $400 million for School Year 24-25 using the last of the “Covid Relief Money”. CPS asked for $550 from the State of Illinois’ budget; however, Illinois only allocated $350 million to CPS. We are left to grapple with a $50 million deficit this year. Then, in School Year 25-26, CPS will not get any “Covid Relief Money” and the deficit is predicted to be even larger. What new revenues will support our schools?

Therese’s degree in finance and the study of economics led her to a position in banking, where she worked for several years in the accounting department and later as an investment counselor. Therese has taken extensive coursework in statistics and is a “numbers person” with great attention to detail and an understanding of numerical relationships. Therese recently served on the United Credit Union Board of Directors, where her financial background was utilized to serve credit union members. As a member of the Chicago Public School Board, Therese will be responsible for approving the district budget and capital improvement plan. Therese would also be tasked with approving purchasing decisions, contracts, and intergovernmental agreements. Therese believes her financial literacy skills would be an asset to the Chicago School Board as it grapples with looming budget deficits.

The future of CPS Selective Enrollment (SE) and Magnet schools is very much on the minds of parents in District 9. As Therese canvassed voters over the past few months, the future of SE schools was a top concern. Many voters in District 9 have had great experiences with both SE and Magnet Cluster schools - and they expressed a desire for the Board to continue to offer these options for families. District 9 is currently home to two SE High Schools, a Regional Gifted Program - as well as Magnet Cluster Schools, International Baccalaureate Programs, STEM Programs, Fine & Performing Arts Programs, and Montessori Programs. There is fear that these programs will not be able to survive if the Board shifts to providing more funding to neighborhood schools.

Therese also talked to parents whose children attend neighborhood schools that have suffered from declining enrollment, losses in staff, and losses of programs due to the past Student Based Budgeting (SBB) practices of the Board. Therese worked for 35 years in neighborhood schools. She witnessed first-hand the declines suffered by neighborhood schools. Therese worked at Wentworth CPS in District 9 during the 50 school closures and moved with the Wentworth staff into the closed Altgeld CPS, where both staff were co-located. It was a difficult time for both school communities. Therese supports the idea that each neighborhood school should be able to offer a baseline of education programs. Research shows that student scores correlate with poverty levels. It makes sense that students living in communities with high poverty need more resources to succeed.

Balancing the needs of our much-lauded CPS Selective Enrollment schools and other specialized schools programming with those of our declining neighborhood schools will be one of the most challenging tasks the newly elected School Board will tackle. The desire for reform is understandable.

How can CPS replicate the success of SE schools and specialized programs in our neighborhood schools? How will the Board measure the success of providing more funding to neighborhood schools? Therese pledges to research the issue of supporting SE schools and bolstering funding in neighborhood schools so that she can make the best decisions for Chicago students.

Therese is very cognizant of the ‘great hopes’ and ‘great fears’ for this 21-member elected school board. As an elected school board member, Therese will ensure the Board is more responsive to families and school communities.

Some have expressed fear that the 21-member board is too big to be effective, and there is concern that the Board will be more ‘politics as usual’ with battling factions. Therese is confident she can work collaboratively and respectfully with fellow board members. Therese spent over 27 years as a member of multi-disciplinary teams; she worked collaboratively with parents, teachers, fellow clinicians, school administrators, advocates, and community agencies to bring special education and other support to CPS students. Therese has experience working on several joint committees with CPS Central Office Administration to solve technology issues and improve clinician services for students. Therese has worked as a school psychologist in several public charter schools and is aware of the concerns of charter school families. Therese has experience serving as a CTU delegate and a CTU committee member and has established good working relationships with many CTU colleagues. Therese considers herself a “community-backed” candidate to serve District 9. She pledges to listen and respond to concerns presented by parent groups, school administrators, community agencies, special education advocates, Charter School advocates, and the CTU - to do what’s in the best interest of Chicago students.

Therese and her husband Dennis, a retired City of Chicago electrician, have lived in School Board District 9 for the past 32 years and are the parents of two adult daughters. With her family raised, and now in retirement, Therese has the time to fully commit to the extensive demands of serving on the Chicago Board of Education. In addition to the regular monthly Board meetings, Therese is available to participate in committee work and task forces.

Therese looks forward to making school visits and attending community events during regular business hours, in the evenings, or on weekends. She is committed to hosting convenient Board Office Hours to meet with parents, students, teachers, and community members.

The School Board member's role also requires a substantial time commitment to reading and analyzing hundreds of pages of documents each month. Therese is committed to reading and analyzing the monthly packets. She has experience with reading and analyzing monthly document packets from her time on the United Credit Union Board. Therese will annotate the documents and do independent research when she has questions related to them. Therese will use her margin notes to actively contribute to the monthly briefings related to the monthly documents.