Janice K. Jackson
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Janice K. Jackson (born May 22, 1977): 30 March 2020 United Janice K. Jackson, Chicago, States Public Records, 1970-2009", database, FamilySearch
/ref> is an American
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
, educational administrator and former schools superintendent. Jackson was the
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of the
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
, the school district's
superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...
position, from December 8, 2017, until June 30, 2021. Prior to her term as superintendent, Jackson was the chief education officer of the district.


Childhood and education

Jackson was born on
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
's South Side at Englewood Hospital. Jackson was the third-born of five children, and grew up in a
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
household. Her father worked as a
taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
driver. At one time, she, her parents, and her four siblings all lived in a two-bedroom
apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...
in the
Auburn Gresham Auburn Gresham is a community area in Chicago, Illinois, on the far south side of the city. It was the original location of the South Side Irish Parade before it relocated to the adjoining Beverly neighborhood to the southwest. Its residents a ...
neighborhood. Jackson attended Cook Elementary School in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. Jackson attended
Hyde Park Career Academy Hyde Park Academy High School (formerly known as Hyde Park High School and Hyde Park Career Academy) is a public four-year high school located in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1863, H ...
, graduating in 1995. Jackson attended college at
Chicago State University Chicago State University (CSU) is a Historically black colleges and universities, predominantly black (PBI) public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It includes an honors program for undergraduates and offers bachelor's and master ...
. She graduated in December 1999, having earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
.


Early career and continued education

Jackson's education career began as a
social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...
teacher at South Shore Community Academy High School. Before receiving a teaching job at South Shore Community Academy High School (part of the
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
), Jackson worked as a
cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the c ...
at an
Express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...
store. While working as a teacher at South Shore Community High School, Jackson continued to study at Chicago State University, getting a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in history. Jackson was involved in the designing of a new Chicago Public Schools institution, Al Raby High School. In 2003, she helped to obtain a $500,000 grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
to underwrite its establishment. The school opened in 2004, when Jackson was the age of 27. The school, located in a previously closed Chicago Public School building located near the
Garfield Park Conservatory Garfield Park Conservatory, located in Garfield Park (Chicago), Garfield Park in Chicago, is one of the largest greenhouse conservatory (greenhouse), conservatories in the United States. Often referred to as "landscape art under glass", the Garf ...
in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, was centered on providing intensive support for a small student body of under 400, emphasizing the study of
technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
,
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
, and the environment. Jackson would become the school's
principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...
. She would later recount that she had initially planned simply to help to design the school, and had no original intent of being its principal. The high school had one of the city's lowest dropout rates. While Al Raby High School's principal, Jackson began attending
University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
to earn a second master's degree in education, this time in leadership and administration. She continued University of Illinois at Chicago, studying in its Urban Education Leadership
doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
program. She has considered Steve Tozer, who headed the program, to be her
mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
. She completed her doctorate in 2010. While she was studying for her doctorate, she and her partner Torrence Price, who she had met in 2005, had a daughter. Jackson was selected by
CEO of Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools is headed by a chief executive officer (CEO) appointed by the mayor of Chicago. The most recent CEO was Pedro Martinez. This job is equivalent to a superintendent, and, before 1995, the occupant of this office was known a ...
(
superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...
)
Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator and former professional basketball player who served as the 9th United States secretary of education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools ...
to again create a new school for the district,
George Westinghouse College Prep George Westinghouse College Preparatory High School (formerly known as Westinghouse Area Vocational High School) is a public four-year college preparatory selective enrollment high school located in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the west s ...
. She became the school's principal. In 2014, Jackson moved to working in the administrative departments of Chicago Public Schools, first working as one of the school district's thirteen community-network chief. This charged her with the oversight of 26 schools with 14,000 students.


Chief education officer of Chicago Public Schools

Jackson became the chief education officer of Chicago Public Schools in 2015. Jackson and CEO of Chicago Public Schools
Forrest Claypool Forrest Edward Claypool is an American politician who has held several positions in the governments of Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from July 27, 2015, until Decem ...
did not see eye-to-eye.


CEO of Chicago Public Schools

On December 8, 2017, Jackson took office as the interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools, after Forest Claypool resigned. She was soon after made permanent CEO by the
Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently made up of 11 members appoin ...
(the city's
school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
). Jackson was the first head of the Chicago Public Schools in two decades to have had direct experience as an educator. Jackson inherited a number of existing struggles in the school district. The school district was seeing a decline in enrollment. There was overcrowding in certain schools, and underpopulation in others. The
Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, wit ...
had placed a monitor on Chicago Public School's
special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...
program after discovering that they had held up and denied the provision of some services to students. Jackson took office after a number of scandals had marred the Chicago Public Schools, including scandals which led to the resignations of her the two previous CEO's, Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Forrest Claypool. Additionally, shortly before she took office, several school closings had been announced. Jackson established the Great Expectations mentoring program, which seeks to encourage
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
and
hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
men to pursue careers in leadership at Chicago Public Schools, where they are underrepresented in administrative positions. In 2018, Jackson created an Office of Equity, making Chicago the largest city whose school district had an equity office. In early 2018, ''
Education Week ''Education Week'' is a news organization that has covered K–12, K–12 education since 1981. It is owned by Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), a nonprofit organization, and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The newspaper publishes ...
'' recognized Jackson as one of their "Leaders to Learn From". On June 1, 2018, the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' published an investigative report which detailed that Chicago Public Schools had, for over a decade, been mishandling
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
cases. In reaction to these revelations, Jackson published a four-page action plan that was distributed to Chicago Public School employees and earmarked $500,000 for a comprehensive review to be headed by Maggie Hickey (a former
United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
and former Illinois executive inspector general) and the law firm Schiff Hardin. She also moved to conduct
fingerprinting A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
and
background check A background check is a process used by an organisation or person to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and check their past record to confirm education, employment history, and other activities, and for a criminal record. The fr ...
ing of all employees entering the schools for the coming school year. She changed policy, moving to forbid employees from accessing school buildings when an accusation made by a student against them is still being investigated. She also enhanced the definitions of inappropriate conduct in the school system's policies, and created a new office (the Office of Student Protections and Title IX) to handle cases of student-on-student
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
and sexual abuse. Despite these actions, she still received criticism accusing her of being ineffective in her response to the revelations. She was also criticized for failing to attend meetings of the Illinois State Board of Education and the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
on the matter, to which she had been invited. Jackson became a topic of political discussion during the
2019 Chicago mayoral election The 2019 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 26, 2019, to determine the next Mayor of Chicago, Mayor of the Chicago, City of Chicago, Illinois. Since no candidate received a majority of votes, a runoff election was held on April 2, 2 ...
. Incumbent mayor
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
had withdrawn from the race, and many speculated that the next mayor would replace Jackson. During a debate between candidates
Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the incumbent County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commis ...
and
Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...
during the mayoral runoff, both candidates were asked whether Jackson should remain in her position. Preckwinkle gave her support to Jackson, while Lightfoot was more critical of Jackson, criticizing the sexual abuse revelations as, "the epic failure of leadership by Rahm Emanuel and Janice Jackson". However, Lightfoot did not commit to firing Jackson if elected, and conceded, "I'm willing to hear her out, but she is going to have to demonstrate to me that she understands she made a mistake and rectify that with the parents and the teachers and the kids". Jackson offered to meet with each of the candidates. Four days prior to the election, which was, by then, seen as a very likely victory for Lightfoot, she met with Lightfoot at the Boyce Building. After Lori Lightfoot took office in May 2019, she announced that she would retain Jackson in her position for at least an interim period. On June 3, 2019, she announced that she would be permanently retaining Jackson as CEO. In October 2019, there was a strike by the
Chicago Teachers Union The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is a labor union that represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians in the Chicago public school system. The union has advocated for improved pay, benefits, and job security for its members, and it has ...
. Jackson has criticized the Chicago Teachers Union for being overly-political. A major matter in the last two years of her tenure was the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education The COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic affected educational systems across the world. The number of cases of COVID-19 started to rise in March 2020 and many educational institutions and University, universities underwent closure. Most coun ...
In May 2021, Jackson announced she would be stepping-down as CEO on June 30, 2021. This ended her 22-year career in Chicago Public Schools. After announcing her planned departure, Jackson's leadership in the role of CEO was praised by Mayor Lightfoot and
president of the Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education is led by a president. Since the 1995 Chicago School Reform Amendatory Act went into effect, the president has been directly appointed by the mayor of Chicago, rather than being elected among the members of the bo ...
Miguel del Valle Miguel del Valle (born July 24, 1951) is an Americans, American politician who has served in various roles in municipal and state government in Chicago. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1987, becoming the first Hispanic member of the body, ...
.


Subsequent career

In September 2021, Jackson announced that she would be the CEO of HOPE Chicago, a scholarship program for Chicago students. Jackson declined to run
2023 Chicago mayoral election The 2023 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 28, 2023, to elect the mayor of Chicago, mayor of Chicago, Illinois. With no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a runoff election was held on Apri ...
, claiming to have no interest in seeking the office. There has been some level of speculation about a possible mayoral run by Jackson in 2027. In 2024, Jackson signed an
open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
opposing Mayor
Brandon Johnson Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...
's ouster of her successor,
Pedro Martinez Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...
.


Personal life

Jackson married Torrence Price in 2017.


References

1977 births Living people 21st-century African-American educators 21st-century American educators CEOs of Chicago Public Schools Chicago State University alumni Hyde Park Academy High School alumni University of Illinois Chicago alumni American school principals 20th-century African-American people {{Chicago Public Schools CEOs/superintendents, state=collapsed