Yes, you read that correctly...the city of Chicago, Illinois, where teachers are currently on strike, does not have a directly-elected school board.
Chicago's school board consists of people appointed by the Mayor of Chicago, currently Rahm Emanuel, who, despite being a Democrat, is no friend of public education. Naturally, Rahm has appointed people to the Chicago School Board that are supportive of his anti-public education agenda, which is one of many reasons the Chicago teachers' strike is taking place.
In my hometown of Westville, Illinois, in the east central part of Illinois, I have the "luxury" of being able to elect people to the Westville Community Unit School District Board, which includes the Villages of Westville and Belgium in Vermilion County, as well as a few small unincorporated communities and rural areas surrounding Westville.
Furthermore, there are some areas of Illinois that are served by not one but TWO directly-elected school boards, one school district for elementary and middle schools, and a second, overlapping school district for high schools.
It's unfair, in my opinion, for Chicago residents to not be able to elect their school board while residents other areas of Illinois are able to, and I believe it's redundant and a waste of taxpayer money for people of some areas of Illinois to have two directly-elected school boards serving them. In fact, I would call it outright disenfranchisement of Chicago residents because they are not able to elect their school board.
Although this issue is not part of the negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools, I believe that all areas of Illinois should be served by single school districts with directly-elected school boards.