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Talent office reports gains in teacher counts and diversity; principal quality office reports rising stability
Summary
Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton and Executive Director Allison Tinguel told the board that Chicago Public Schools has increased teacher counts since 2019, expanded residencies and teacher leadership roles, and is seeing improvements in principal tenure and participation in professional learning.
Chicago Public Schools staff reported measurable gains in new hires, teacher diversity and principal stability during an April 24 presentation to the Board of Education.
Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton summarized a multi‑part strategy the district calls Teach Chicago and related efforts that include expanded teacher residencies, an early offer recruitment program, partnerships with local universities and organizations, and targeted supports for high‑need schools. Felton said the district is "up about 3,000 teachers since 2019" and reported increases in specialized staff: he told the board there are more than 1,300 additional special education teachers compared with several years ago and significant increases in bilingual/ESL staff (the presentation cited a 34% increase since 2020 in bilingual teachers and a 41% increase in bilingual/ESL teachers in a recent interval).
Felton described teacher residency programs (paid, yearlong preparation targeted to high‑need subjects and schools), the Teach Chicago Tomorrow pipeline (recruiting high school students into teaching), and other pathways such as P‑STEP (in‑district preservice placements). He also reported that the district has created more than 1,100 formal teacher leadership roles and expanded mentoring (noting higher one‑to‑one mentor capacity).
Allison Tinguel, executive director of Principal Quality, said principal tenure metrics are improving and the district has expanded professional learning: she reported more than 1,300 sitting school leader participation instances in DPQ programs year to date and said the district is on track for one of the lowest principal transition rates in the past decade. Tinguel also described targeted programs to increase access into school leadership and said newer principals and assistant principals are more likely to be Latino or Black compared with earlier cohorts — a change the office framed as progress on representation.
Why it matters: Teacher recruitment, retention and leader stability are central to district efforts to improve instruction and school climate. Senior staff framed their work as part of the Together We Rise strategic priority on exceptional diverse talent and said the programs are designed to build supply and support for high‑need schools.
What the board heard and next steps: Board members asked about placement of student teachers and the correlation between principal leadership and teacher retention; staff said they are expanding preservice placements into higher‑need schools and continuing to refine supports for principals and teacher leaders. Felton and Tinguel said the district will continue those efforts and will brief the board on progress.
