CHICAGO (STMW) — All-purpose mayoral trouble-shooter Gery Chico spent six years working to turn around the Chicago Public Schools. Now, he’s returning to his educational roots — as board chairman of the Chicago City Colleges, the Sun-Times is reporting.
Chico is a former mayoral chief-of-staff now serving as president of the Chicago Park District board.
He replaces Jim Tyree, who is handing over the reins after 10 years at the helm. Tyree, chairman of Mesirow Financial.
From 1995 to 2001, Chico and then-Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas forged a dynamic duo that launched Mayor Daley’s risky takeover of city schools.
They ended social promotions, raised standards and launched an ambitious capital program that built dozens of schools and school additions. They worked together to turn the school system from a national disgrace into a model for reform, despite tensions behind the scenes.
At City Colleges, Chico will forge a new team that includes incoming chancellor Cheryl Hyman.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that Hyman — a former Orr High School dropout who left home to escape drug-addicted parents and rose to become a top executive at Commonwealth Edison — is Daley’s choice to become City Colleges chancellor.
The seven Chicago City Colleges serve 115,000 students. They have 5,700 employees and an annual budget of $476 million. The financially strapped system is expected to raise tuition by $8 per credit hour at a board meeting later this week.
Chico’s appointment continues Daley’s pattern of playing musical chairs with a thin bench of trusted advisers.
Before Chicago’s first round flame-out in the 2016 Olympics sweepstakes, the job of park board president was pivotal because many of the proposed Olympic venues were on park land. Without the Olympics, Daley has apparently concluded that the City Colleges challenge is a more important use for Chico’s talents.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services