State lawmakers recently released their latest map of the voting districts for the elected school board that will eventually govern Chicago Public Schools. This represents the commission’s third effort to draw the map. Each iteration has faced pushback from activists who contend that the school board should reflect the demographics of the student body of CPS rather than the population of Chicago.
The disparities in taxes reflect disparities in wealth, and paying more taxes does not entitle a person to more representation. No more so than does having children in school. But once we begin making invidious distinctions about who is more “deserving” of representation, we’ve started down a slippery slope that inevitably leads to undemocratic and divisive conclusions. Whether a person pays more taxes or has more children in schools does not give them any special status as a voter.