2024 Chicago elected school board candidates: Thomas Day

To help inform voters on who’s running for Chicago’s elected school board, the Chicago Tribune education team posed a series of questions to the candidates in each district. These questions ranged from basic information on their background and campaign platform to their stance on several issues facing Chicago Public Schools.

See the answers from Thomas Day, candidate for elected school board in the 4th District, below.

About the Candidate

Name: Thomas Day

Age: 44

Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

School District: 4

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Penn State University; Master of Science in journalism, Northwestern University Medill School; Master of Public Policy, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

Current Job: Lecturer, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

Previous Political Experience: I ran (quite!) unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party nomination for the 7th Congressional District in 2016.

Questions and Answers

In the interest of transparency, the candidate’s responses shown here are published as written and have not been edited by the Tribune.

Did you attend Chicago Public Schools or is anyone in your immediate family a CPS student? Yes, an immediate family member.

Have you worked at Chicago Public Schools or another school? What is your background in education?

I have served as a substitute teacher at Tubman Elementary in Lakeview during the previous and current academic year.

Why are you running for a seat on the Chicago Board of Education?

In my judgement, what CPS confronts right now is one of the most profound and consequential crises our city has ever faced. If we’re going to find our way out of this mess, we need public servants committed to good governance.

As I write this, Mayor Johnson has just appointed allies to the CPS Board who will soon fire CEO Pedro Martinez and force CPS to take out a massive payday loan, all in service of the hysterical demands of Stacy Davis Gates. CPS is already managing a $505 million deficit; Brandon Johnson’s actions could blow the roof off of our fiscal challenges. Consider also that CPS must urgently pay for $3 billion in capital repairs. And CPS is paying about $800 million each year in servicing debt. This is what happens when power seekers and special interests attain unchecked power.

Something happened last March that drew me into this race. In front of City Hall, an ally of Mayor Johnson led a rally where an American flag was set on fire. Months later, Mayor Johnson appointed a woman who has called for the total abolition of the Chicago Police to closely advise his administration. Clearly this is no political environment where reform is possible. We must turn down the temperature on our politics and refocus on results.

My motivations are personal. I am a new CPS parent. My son is a kindergartner at Hawthorne Elementary. I am running because I simply could not stand by as extremists drive our public school system in a financial catastrophe.

How would you describe your district?

The people of the 4th District are committed to progress. We are hugely supportive of public schools, our teachers, and especially our kids. We also recognize the need for fiscal responsibility and assurance that our property tax dollars support effective schools. Doubling down on empty schools serves no one. While dozens of schools that are more than 70 percent empty continue to be preserved at the cost of tens of millions of dollars, Hamilton Elementary families had to fundraise for air conditioning units. Some view this as necessary to achieve equality, but evidence suggests equity is better served by integrating kids across racial and socioeconomic demographics at high-performing schools. That’s why I have advocated for a plan stabilize our finances, consolidate disenrolled schools, and build modern, integrated, and fully enrolled schools.

How would you describe your campaign platform?

Fiscal responsibility, driven by courage and a sharp focus on policy solutions, not rhetoric. For the past decade, after the Illinois Supreme Court struck down pension reform and with the backlash to the 2013 CPS school closures, a culture of fiscal lunacy has reigned in Chicago. I believe, with the chaos we’ve witnessed in the past few weeks, a new era in Chicago politics has begun, one centered on good governance, balanced budgets, reason, and civility — and I’m here to help lead that movement.

I am a mainstream Democrat who is comfortable questioning some of the extremism and echo-chamber politics of my own party. Yes, we need to make some tough choices to balance our budget. We need to expand enrollment at schools that work and shutter those that aren’t. We need to build and act on a long-term vision for Chicago Public Schools that provides modern, integrated, and fully enrolled schools where kids can succeed.

I have consistently demonstrated the courage to stand up for good governance before politics, grabbing the “third rails” of Chicago politics with both hands. That’s why Alderman Scott Waguespack endorsed me. He and I are committed to confronting the extraordinary confluence of challenges Chicago faces with bold, fearless action.

What is the single most important issue facing CPS students?

Last academic year, only a quarter of students tested at grade level in reading and 17 percent tested at grade level in math. For Chicago, this is five-alarm emergency. We cannot expect to be a competitive global city when so few of our kids are prepared to enter the extraordinary and challenging job markets of tomorrow.

We need to recognize the COVID-19 lockdowns went on way too long and caused immense learning losses and social and emotional damage to our kids. Then we need to invest in tutoring programs to get our students back on track. As representative of the 4th District, I’ll fight to fund tutoring programs for CPS kids that remain behind the pace – and there are lots of them.

We also need to address the problem of chronic absenteeism. 40 percent of students were chronically absent last academic year. I believe we need to intervene early when a student is not showing up for school. That process can be aided by a focused and data-driven effort on understanding why kids aren’t showing up to school.

But the kids aren’t the only ones who were chronically absent last year at unacceptable rates; 43 percent of teachers last year were also chronically absent. I believe our teachers are the very best this city has to offer. I have been blessed to call a few friends and colleagues as I’ve subbed at Tubman Elementary the past year. So, I say with great respect: We can’t have another year where the teachers themselves are 43 percent chronically absent. I will fight for more mental health support for our teachers, but we need to understand why so many were chronically absent last academic year and make certain that doesn’t happen again.

Provide three to four key points you want voters to know about your campaign.

The record of CPS should enrage all Chicagoans. Hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted spending. Empty schools. Horrific test scores. A $505 million deficit. CPS is spending about $800 million annually servicing long-term debt — dollars that could have been spent for far, far more productive purposes. I am ready to take on extraordinary confluence of challenges that CPS confronts. First, we cannot continue to fund empty schools. CPS continues to support 12 high schools that are more than 80 percent empty. These 12 schools are deeply segregated; of the 12 most disenrolled high schools, only one school last year served a white student. Test scores at these 12 high schools are horrific. One percent of students at these 12 schools tested at grade level in math, according to public data. And though spending per pupil at the 12 most disenrolled high schools is nearly twice that of the entire district, Mayor Johnson and Stacy Davis Gates want to double down on these schools — not out of commitment to student achievement, but to preserve their own power. This is not my idea of progressive. Second, we cannot continue to raise property tax levies to the maximum allowed by state law. If the CPS budget had simply kept pace with inflation over the past ten years, it would be more than $1 billion smaller than it is. What have we received for this extraordinary increase in expenditures? Very little, test scores would suggest. I am committed to bending the property tax curve through school consolidation and lending my voice to a renewed effort to provide Illinois voters a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment to reform public sector pensions. Third, we need new school buildings. The average age of a CPS main building is 84 years old. CPS schools and facilities have $3 billion in urgent capital repairs. We need a long-term capital plan to build modern, integrated, and fully enrolled schools. To address these urgent concerns, I have put two proposals at the center of my campaign. I have proposed the CPS Board empanel something I call the “Chicago Public Schools Advancement and Modernization Commission,” staffed by CPS families, teachers, real estate experts, business scholars, and community leaders. This commission is modeled after the federal government’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Under my plan, the Chicago Public Schools Advancement and Modernization Commission would present to the CPS Board a list of facilities to close or consolidate. The CPS Board would review the list, provide some iterative feedback, but ultimately take an up-or-down vote; a vote to disapprove the commission’s recommendations will trigger a process to close all schools that are 70 percent or more underutilized over a four- to eight-year period (clearly not ideal, but better than the status quo). Before the Chicago Public Schools Advancement and Modernization Commission would report to the CPS Board, they would need to meet two critical requirements: First, the commission must set a plan for what to do with that school building before a closure is completed. Second, the commission must present a plan to assign students to new schools that will, to greatest extent possible, maximize racial integration. I also propose that we build 20 new CPS schools that consolidate 60 disenrolled schools. To finance such an effort, I believe a $1 billion bond would be required — which is, of course, an insane idea unless we first deal with the long-term drivers of our structural budget deficit. Consolidating disenrolled schools will help calm the bond markets, but I recognize that we need to go further. That’s why I think it’s so critical that state lawmakers revisit pension reform. What I have just proposed is a parallel process where we deal with the long-term drivers of our deficit and, at the same time, take on additional short-term debt. I recognize this is not without risk, but I think it’s clear we will soon be entering a lower interest rate environment. So let’s take advantage of it.

Given this year’s budgetary problems and disagreements on how to solve them, what do you propose for the district’s funding in future years? Would you support the district in taking on any loans in future years to fund the annual budget?

I oppose the mayor’s insistence that CPS take out a payday loan to satisfy the demands of Stacy Davis Gates and Jackson Potter. I also oppose raising property taxes to the max. What I support is a plan to rein in spending, including consolidating disenrolled schools and asking state lawmakers to revisit the “Grand Bargain,” providing voters the ability to vote for constitutional amendments to allow for Tier 1 pension reform and a graduate income tax.

Understand that the chaos we’ve witnessed over the past few weeks is a logical product of an environment in Chicago where fiscal responsibility has been discarded and, by the 57th Mayor of Chicago in prepared remarks, itself compared to slavery. We must bring to an end this era of grievance-filled politics and reacquaint ourselves with good governance.

The Chicago Board of Education recently adopted a new 5-year Strategic Plan. Which aspects do you support and which would you change, if any?

The 5-year Strategic Plan was a real missed opportunity to address the tough choices to address the decline in student enrollment. Yet I do applaud the board for several recommendations, including measures to support Black student success, expand dual language programs, and enhance work-based learning and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

I believe, if CPS wants to more directly prepare students for the labor markets, we should be bringing folks like World Business Chicago and P33 to the table to understand what future skills local employers will need from job candidates. Chicago economic leaders and lawmakers have put a ton of energy behind an effort to build a quantum technology cluster. We should be asking ourselves: How can we best prepare CPS kids to compete in a local quantum cluster? Can we pair work-based learning programs with the jobs of tomorrow that we (hopefully) will see in Chicago in the next five, ten years?

As thousands of migrant families settle in Chicago, how should the District handle the influx of English learners? What more should be done to ensure consistent bilingual education is provided and funded?

As we begin the 2024-2025 academic year, it is clear that the challenges of teaching migrant students are still very much present. As a substitute teacher, I have witnessed full-time teachers giving instructions twice — once in English and another time in Spanish, with the latter often requiring Google Translate. More frequently, teachers need to just separate migrant kids from the other students and keep them busy; what else can they do? This is an unsustainable situation for CPS teachers and it needs to be dealt with.

These migrant kids need to be supported. As a board member representing the 4th District, I’ll fight for tuition support for teachers to gain bilingual certifications. If this emergency persists, I’ll fight to hire full-time migrant coordinators for each CPS school enrolling migrant students. I’ll also advocate for measures in Springfield to increase funding for schools most impacted by the influx of migrant students.

Finally, I believe we should consider relaxing certification requirements for Spanish speakers who may not meet the current degree standards to be full-time CPS teachers but can still connect with ESL students more effectively than non-Spanish-speaking educators.

Do you believe the district has historically underinvested in South and West side schools? Yes.

If yes, what solutions would you propose to address inequities and opportunity gaps in the school system?

I believe that CPS should, above all, provide students with schools that are new, fully enrolled, and integrated.

The Chicago Public School system was under a U.S. Department of Justice-imposed consent decree for more than two decades, from 1980 to 2006, resulting from unacceptable levels of racial segregation in schools. Progress on that front has been made, no doubt, but even in 2024, more than half of Black CPS students attend schools that are more than 90 percent of students are also Black. That’s unacceptable. We must elevate the importance of racial desegregation in our public schools.

That’s why, under my plan, we build 20 new schools in geographic locations that can better support racial integration. An example might be build a new school at a plot of land near the United Center where families in Austin can send their kids to school with families living in the West Loop.

Mayor Johnson has consistently focused rhetoric on “investing in people,” and on that front, I agree with him. But let’s not confuse investing in people with investing in real estate. Through the work of economists like Harvard’s Raj Chetty, we can identify geographies with high “social capital” — referring to social economic connectedness across income demographics — that are better at facilitating upward mobility. We know that there are geographic locations that better facilitate interaction between residents across income demographics and support upward mobility.

So rather than simply elevate grievance, however justified, to fund underperforming schools, let’s try to figure out how we can provide schools where low-income, often Black and Hispanic kids gain greater connectedness with higher-income people. Let’s understand that those connections are more likely to be facilitated within existing high-income neighborhoods. And yes, let’s also recognize any strategy to support racial integration should include building more affordable housing in high-growth areas. I strongly believe that a comprehensive effort to merge communities in Chicago will be reflected in our CPS student bodies, and ultimately in the upward mobility of our low-income residents.

That’s my idea of “investing in people.” We shouldn’t simply pit people and neighborhoods against one another. It’s a vision I’ll fight for on the CPS Board.

Since his election, Mayor Johnson has indicated a desire to move away from school choice and bolster neighborhood schools. This was recently reinforced by in the District’s 5-year Strategic Plan. Do you share this position? Why or why not?

I do not share this position. We must preserve school choice and strengthen our neighborhood schools.

First, we must recognize the importance of selective enrollment schools and preserve their essential role in our public school system. Squeezing funding for or eliminating selective enrollment schools will surely lead to an immediate movement of families out of the Chicago Public School system or out of the city altogether. Any school that produced Michelle Obama should be protected. As a board member representing the 4th District, I’ll ensure selective enrollment schools like Lane Tech and Whitney Young (where our former first lady attended) continue to support high-achieving CPS students and accelerate excellence.

Yet I understand and agree with concerns that we are short changing our neighborhood schools. I agree that each and every neighborhood school should have a set of services, including a librarian and special education support — but to achieve this, we need to consolidate schools that are massively disenrolled.

The CPS 5-Year Strategic Plan was a missed opportunity to lay out a strategy for building modern, integrated, and fully enrolled schools.

What solutions do you propose to provide busing for students at selective enrollment and magnet schools?

As representative of the 4th District, I will hold a responsibility to make certain students — particularly those from our underserved neighborhoods — have an opportunity to attend our best-performing schools. I understood that CPS was preparing to provide “transportation hubs” for kids traveling long distances to get to school, yet anecdotal evidence provided through parents’ organizations I have engaged with suggest that CPS is still struggling to provide adequate busing. With a great deal of caution and oversight, I am prepared to lend my support to ride-hailing services to transport kids to school until we can adequately provide conventional busing services to all CPS kids.

It seems to me that this challenge sits downstream from our budget challenges. We need to understand that inadequate busing, like many other concerns, is a symptom of tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars of wasted spending. I am convinced that so as long we maintain 161 schools with utilization rates under 50 percent — that’s what we did last academic year — there will be insufficient CPS funding for basic services like busing.

Please share your thoughts on how the District and the Chicago Teachers Union can settle on a new 4-year contract.

I love our teachers, but we can’t afford a 9 percent pay increase. Chicago teachers are already some of the most well-compensated teachers in the United States, cost-of-living adjusted. I support continuing to pay our teachers a competitive salary, but CPS needs to take a much tougher stand on runaway expenditures. If Stacy Davis Gates and Jackson Potter drive the Chicago Public School system into yet another work stoppage, we may need to ask state lawmakers to get involved. Chicago families cannot afford yet another work stoppage.

I hope that the Chicago Teachers Union’s leadership understands the enormity of this moment. If the Chicago Public School system continues down this path toward insolvency, the world will take notice and the public education movement will be threatened. They have a responsibility to work with the CPS Board to craft a sustainable budget.

In 2024, Chicago Public Schools’ average literacy proficiency rate is 31%, an increase from pre-pandemic years. These rates, however, were lower for students from low-income families, English learners and students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). How should the district seek to improve literacy rates going forward?

We must do better. I believe that every CPS kid should be a proficient reader by the end of 3rd Grade; we cannot allow a CPS kid to advance to the 4th Grade without being able to read. To ensure that we meet that standard, I believe we should make certain we’re adequately funding and supporting intervention programs. We should also make sure that elementary school teachers are qualified on phonics-based instruction methods.

I recognize that parent involvement is essential. CPS must engage with parents or guardians of any child identified as deficient to develop a strategy.

Of course our challenges with reading proficiency can be especially acute for kids with individualized education plans (IEPs), which number about 52,000 CPS students, or 15 percent of all CPS students. I will make certain that no school expels a special education student purely out of convenience, and also make certain to be responsive to families who have been denied services.

What is your position on expanded funding and renewal terms for charter schools?

Moving forward, we need to provide charters with contracts that enforce transparency about student performance, discipline, and outcomes. Contracts also need to be fair about providing sufficient time for the school to demonstrate results before the CPS Board decides to renew the charter.

I believe charter schools have a place in the Chicago Public School system, but that they should be required to play by the rules. There are some good charter schools and some bad ones. As representative of the 4th District, I will be rigorous in assessing which ones are best supporting students so that we can weed out the ones that aren’t.

Please provide your thoughts on how to keep Chicago Public Schools as safe havens for students to learn and flourish fear of violence. How do you propose the district approach this?

The CPS Whole School Safety plan rightly defines safety as inclusive of not just physical safety, but of emotional and relational components. It is strange then that the draft document does not appear to address the tremendous harm that social media has done to the emotional and relational wellbeing of our kids, and I believe that conversation must be a central part of any plan to ensure the safety of our kids.

Mental health challenges among adolescents (particularly girls) have increased sharply since 2007. What is it that happened in 2007? There is only one logical answer: the introduction of the smart phone and popularity of social media. I believe the State of Illinois should act decisively to set a minimum age for creating a social media profile (they have done the same in Florida, banning all social media for anyone under the age of 16). Such a measure would be outside the bounds of the CPS Board, but what is certainly in the purview of the Chicago Public School system is to ban cell phone use during school hours at all schools. I support phone-free schools.

Of course the plan notes the end of the CPS contract with the Chicago Police Department to provide School Resource Officers. While I am supportive with that decision, I do not believe that the Chicago Public School Board should be setting policies prohibiting Local School Councils from welcoming School Resource Officers into schools if the choose.

Implementation of the safety plan is critical, particularly concerning matters of emergency management. As the representative of the 4th District, I will ensure that all schools in our district are prepared for emergencies, equipped with “Go Kits,” and that faculty receive training to quickly respond to student threats.