Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new point person for Chicago Public Schools is Arnie Rivera, a former district administrator and deputy chief of staff to two CPS chief executives.
Rivera, 34, takes over as deputy chief of staff for education from Beth Swanson, who resigned last week for a position with the nonprofit Joyce Foundation, which pushes for education reform.
Rivera began his career as a teacher at Walt Disney Magnet School, and his wife is a CPS teacher. He was a CPS administrator for six years, eventually becoming former schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard’s deputy chief of staff. He remained in that post under the current district chief, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, and played an instrumental role in the process to close nearly 50 elementary schools.
Last year, Rivera resigned from CPS to become chief operating officer for the Chicago Public Education Fund, which provides money for reform initiatives including those aimed at improving teacher and principal quality, as well as for innovations in charter and district-run schools.
In his new role, Rivera acts as a liaison between City Hall and the school district, coordinating the administration’s education policy agenda.
“As a former teacher, Arnie understands the critical issues facing Chicago classrooms and will help to further our efforts to ensure every student has access to a high-quality public school education,” Emanuel said in a statement.
Rivera, who started at City Hall this week, said he will use his experiences as a teacher and administrator to guide initiatives such as the current push on early childhood programs.
“My main focus is to maintain a lot of the positive momentum that the city and CPS has seen over the last few years with the expansion of high-quality options, expansion of (International Baccalaureate) and STEM programs and the work with City Colleges,” he said.
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