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Chicago’s new school board president, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, resigned Thursday after his past antisemitic and misogynistic comments online resurfaced.
It’s more leadership turmoil for the Board of Education, which will soon transition to a 21-member partially-elected governing body, ending 30 years of mayoral control.
Johnson’s departure comes less than a month after Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed him on Oct. 7 alongside five others. The shocking overhaul came after the mayor’s first set of appointees resigned en masse amid tensions between the mayor and Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
The newly appointed school board members swore themselves in just last week and are scheduled to meet Friday.
The mayor said in a statement Thursday afternoon that he asked for Johnson’s resignation and that he resigned effective immediately.
“Reverend Mitchell Johnson’s statements were not only hurtful but deeply disturbing,” Mayor Johnson said. “I want to be clear: antisemitic, misogynistic, and conspiratorial statements are unacceptable.”
The mayor said that his office would “identify a qualified individual” — he did not provide a timeline — and that the school board would meet as scheduled.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called for Johnson’s resignation earlier Thursday.
“Any person charged with the stewardship of the Chicago Public School Board must exemplify focused, inclusive, and steady leadership,” he said in a statement. “The views expressed in the current Chair’s posts – antisemitism, misogyny, fringe conspiracy theories – very clearly do not meet that standard.”
Pritzker is of Jewish Ukrainian descent. As of Thursday afternoon, 40 of 50 Chicago aldermen and the City Clerk Anna Valencia also signed a letter calling for Johnson to step down.
Earlier this week, Jewish Insider reported that Johnson crafted more than a dozen Facebook posts with antisemitic statements following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Johnson issued a statement late Wednesday apologizing “to the Jewish community.”
“The remarks I posted were reactive and insensitive, and I am deeply sorry for not being more precise and deliberate in my comments posted last year,” Johnson wrote. “Since then, I have asked for and received feedback from my Jewish friends and colleagues, who helped me be more thoughtful in the way I address these sensitive matters.”
But additional Facebook posts surfaced Thursday in which Johnson supported a conspiracy theory that 9/11 was “an inside job” and questioned why working women don’t want families.
Mayor Johnson said when he announced the new appointments that the members were still being vetted. The mayor also said the new appointments, including Johnson, would stay in their roles after the transition to a hybrid elected and appointed board.
But it’s not clear if the new appointees can continue to serve past Jan. 15, when elected and appointed members are set to be sworn in. That’s because the mayor must appoint people who live on the opposite side of the geographic districts as the elected winners, which won’t be known until after Nov. 5.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
