A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge under the Voting Rights Act to Chicago’s mayorally appointed school board, holding that nothing in the text of the 1965 federal law requires any public office to be elective.
A group of voters alleged that the state law enabling the mayor to appoint the board of education deprives black and Latino residents of their right to vote.
While the vast majority of the nation’s 14,000 school boards are elected, some of the largest systems have boards appointed in some form by the city’s mayor.
A version of this article appeared in the April 25, 2018 edition of Education Week as Appointed School Boards Pass Muster Under Voting Rights Act, Court Rules
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