Number of School Council Hopefuls Up

The number of Chicago local school council candidates is up thisyear for the first time since 1989, Board of Education officials saidMonday.

Friday was the deadline for candidates to file. Preliminarytallies show 7,975 parents, community members, teachers and studentswill be vying for 5,470 seats on April 17 and April 18, officialssaid. That's 400 more than in the last elections in 1993.

That brings the candidates per seat to 1.46, compared to therecord low 1.34 in 1993, said Kenneth Wong, University of Chicagoassociate professor of education.The number of candidates had been dwindling since 1989, thefirst year of reform, when roughly 17,000 people ran. In 1991 thenumber dropped to 8,400, and in 1993 it plunged to 7,400. AlthoughFriday's candidate totals did not match 1989 or 1991's numbers,Schools Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas said, "I'm glad westopped the trend. The numbers are up."This year's local school council candidates include LynetteCarr-Sherrod, the former Prosser High School council chairwoman whowas accused of pressuring staff to raise her daughter's grades, andJohn Bartgen, the former Hale council chairman accused of running atyrannical voting bloc. Both schools were declared "in crisis"following council controversies.The controversy at Hale brought out 20 council candidates vyingfor 10 seats. The highest candidate turnout - 26 - was at DisneyMagnet, where one council faction has been battling the principal,board officials said.