December 29, 2016

Mayor Emanuel Announces Appointment Of Arnaldo Rivera To Chicago Board Of Education

Rivera appointed to Board of Education following years of service to Chicago Public Schools as educator and administrator

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced the appointment of Arnaldo “Arnie” Rivera to serve on the Chicago Board of Education. Rivera, a former educator and education administrator, will replace Dominique Jordan Turner, who, has recently stepped down to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Public Library. As a board member, Rivera will lend his extensive experience in education policy to address issues facing the District and to expand quality opportunities in the city’s schools. 

“Arnie is a committed leader who has worked tirelessly to improve our schools and educational opportunities for the next generation of Chicagoans,” said Mayor Emanuel. “There is no doubt that Arnie’s experience addressing our schools’ most urgent needs makes him uniquely qualified to build on the work that our schools across the city are doing to improve our children’s futures.”

Rivera began his career in education as a first grade teacher at Walt Disney Magnet School on Chicago's north side. Since that time, he has held a number of different senior roles in CPS and in other influential education-focused organizations. Notably, he has twice served on negotiation teams to successfully secure labor contracts with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2012 and 2016, with the most recent agreement yielding the District’s most cost effective labor contracts in its history, while also delivering teacher raises.

“I am honored that Mayor Emanuel has nominated me to serve on the Chicago Board of Education,” said Rivera. “My focus has always been, and will continue to be, on improving educational opportunities in schools today so that the district’s rapid academic success can continue into the future. I look forward to continuing my service to the city, our schools—and most importantly, to our students—in this new capacity.”

Rivera has dedicated nearly his entire career to improving public education for children in the City of Chicago, serving in numerous senior roles at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), as the lead architect on Mayor Emanuel’s education policy agenda, as Chief Operating Officer to the Chicago Public Education Fund, as well as with other local education organizations. Rivera holds both bachelors and master’s degrees from Northwestern University. In addition to his decade of service to the District, his wife teaches in CPS, and daughter attends a CPS school.

In addition to his duties to the Board of Education, Rivera will continue his service as Senior Strategic Advisor to After School Matters, a non-profit organization that provides high quality out of school learning and work opportunities for more than 15,000 Chicago high school teens each year.

 

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