The student walkout was a show of support for mom, Michelle Watson, whose son, Cole, died in a car accident before his junior year at Deer Creek High School.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Janice Jackson took the helm of the Chicago Public Schools at a time when it was, again, a mess.
Her three predecessors had been pushed out, the latest in scandal, the one before him imprisoned. As an educator who’d worked her way up through her hometown school district, Jackson was tasked with stabilizing and restoring the public’s confidence in the country’s third-largest schools system.
Armed uniquely with a history they sorely lacked experience and valuable relationships as a former CPS student, teacher, principal and administrator plus parent of students Jackson shored up budgets, developed a five-year plan and promoted talent from within to assemble an uber-diverse leadership team loaded with CPS teachers. Principals halted their exodus.