Changing Course

IN THE SUMMER OF 2015, JITU BROWN, PRESIDENT OF THE KENWOOD-OAKLAND Community Organization, led a 34-day hunger strike to pressure the Chicago Board of Education to reopen Dyett High School, one of 50 schools shut down during Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s first term. As a result of the strike, Dyett is now operating as a neighborhood arts academy. But Brown and his fellow strikers had to starve themselves to get the attention of the school board.

Those seven board members were appointed by the mayor. But by 2027, for the first time in history, Chicago Public Schools is going