Khan Is Victorious in Chicago Public School Council Elections
Chicago, IL : Last week the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) held Local School Council (LSC) elections at 540 schools with nearly 6,500 candidates running for the school-based seats. The LSC election is one of the largest Municipal elections in the United States. Local School Councils consist of six Parent Representatives, two Community Representatives, two teacher Representatives, one non-teaching staff member, the principal, and (in high schools) a student.
The Northside of Chicago had many strongly contested LSC races. Liaquat Ali Khan, owner of Par Birdie Foods, ran as Community Representative from Dewitt Clinton Elementary School located at 6110 N. Fairfield Ave. Khan was victorious by placing first out of a field of 3 candidates with 98% of the vote. The largest demographic of students at Clinton Elementary is Asian at 40%. “Clinton School was ranked 161 in the entire city by Chicago Magazine. This is very concerning and I will work hard with my fellow LSC officials to improve and raise the school’s standard,” said Liaquat Ali Khan.
Joining Khan at Clinton LSC is fellow Community Rep. Margaret Reyes and elected Parent Reps. Hadeer Mahmood, Sultana Shareef, Samreen Talat, Ana Monterossa, and Sadath Osmani. Mrs. Osmani served as Chairman in her previous term.
Also in the Northside, Ahmed Khan, who previously was a candidate for Alderman in the 50th Ward during the last City of Chicago elections, was elected as Community Representative at Stone Scholastic Academy located at 6239 North Leavitt Street. Ahmed Khan was also placed first in a field of 3 candidates. When asked about Local School Council’s Khan said, “LSC officials play a crucial role at the grassroots level. We prepare school budgets, coordinate hiring of principals, and help strategically manage our neighborhood schools.”
Both Khans were endorsed by Progressive Alliance Political Action Committee (PA-PAC) of Cook County. After the election, they both offered a big thanks to all community members, parents and volunteers including Rahmat Ali Khan, Mohd. Nawaz Khan, Majid Mustafa, Yusuf Patel, Mehboob Khan, Hamdeedullah Khan, Amer Chaudry, Javed Riaz, Rana Javed, Tariq Khawaja, Masood Sahi, Syed Mukkaram, Shakeel Ullah Khan, Shaji Ullah Khan, Hayat Khan, Mehtab Khan, Naseer Mohd. Khan, Amjed Ali Khan, Sajjad Ali Khan, Muqeet Ahmed Khan, Abid Ali Khan, Shoukat Ali Khan, Mumtaz Ali Khan, Jalal Khan, Abrar Khan, Munawwar Khan (Munnu Pahelwan), Abbas Affari, Mohsin Ali, Saleem Bhai, Abdul Bhai, Ajaiz Bhai, and Azeem Bhai to mention a few.
Local School Councils were created by the Illinois General Assembly in 1988 to empower local communities to have greater power in deciding how schools are run. The LSC has the right to choose the school’s principal for a four-year contract and help develop, approve, and monitor a school improvement plan and school-based budget. Research indicates that active cohesive LSCs have helped schools significantly improve student achievement and increase parent and community involvement.
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