Brandon Johnson, the Mayor of Chicago, introduces Sean Harden as the president of the Chicago Board of Education and appoints five more members.

CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a new president for the Chicago Board of Education, along with five more appointments to the board on Monday night.

Johnson appointed Sean Harden as the board’s president. The mayor said Harden is a South Side native and the former deputy CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

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Johnson’s five other appointments Monday include:

• Anusha Thotakura, who Johnson says is a former bilingual middle school teacher.




• Ed Bannon, who Johnson says has experience in local journalism, economic development and parenting three CPS graduates.




• Karen Zaccor, who Johnson says is a retired CPS teacher of 28 years and co-founder of Uplift Community High School.




• Norma Rios-Sierra, who Johnson says is an accomplished artist, activist and CPS parent.




• Pastor Emma Lozano, who Johnson says is a lifelong advocate for immigrant families and education equity.

Those six appointees will join sitting members Debby Pope, Michilla Blaise, Frank Thomas and Olga Bautista, who Johnson also appointed to the board.

Johnson has now filled 10 of the 11 board seats he is tasked with filling.

Monday is the deadline to fill the 11 appointed seats on the board. ABC7 has reached out to the mayor’s office for more information on the 11th seat.

Voters picked the 10 other members in last month’s election.

The Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement, saying, “For decades, the education justice movement in this city has been laser-focused on ensuring every student has access to a high-quality neighborhood public school. Today’s appointments by Mayor Johnson that will culminate in the seating of Chicago’s first democratically elected Board of Education is a significant achievement and component in our fight forward to ensure good neighborhood public schools for all students in this city, no matter their ZIP code.

The appointment of these members, many of them advocates for justice and public education, like retired teacher and founder member of Uplift High School Sustainable Community School Karen Zaccor, coupled with the election of champions like Aaron “Jitu” Brown, will usher in a new era of collaboration for our school communities and doing what’s right for our students their families.

As educators, we know firsthand how vital collaboration is in improving the lives of our students, neighborhoods, and Chicago. With a Democratically elected school board now coming online and being a new voice in the choir for good public schools, we can turn the page for this city and its students, implement the five-year CPS Strategic Plan, and ensure more well-resourced schools throughout this city.

Coming after years of destabilizing struggle that included school closures, layoffs, disinvestment, and the degradation of the city’s public school classrooms, the newly established school board will allow our great city to transform our public schools, uplift the voices of our most vulnerable families and ensure our students have the high-quality school day that they deserve.