James Meeks

Meeks was appointed chair of the Illinois State Board of Education by Governor Bruce Rauner and took office January 21, 2017. He succeeded Gery Chico who had resigned the previous week.

Meeks has been a leading and outspoken figure in the 2013 campaign to stop gay marriage legislation in Illinois.

In November 2010, in an interview on the radio station WVON, Meeks advocated that only African Americans should be qualified for city contracts designated for minorities and women. During the conversation, he stated, "The word 'minority' from our standpoint should mean African American. I don't think women, Asians and Hispanics should be able to use that title. That's why our numbers cannot improve — because we use women, Asians and Hispanics who are not people of color, who are not people who have been discriminated against". He later retracted his statement by saying he would only forbid white women if elected mayor. He told television station WFLD, "I don't believe white women should be considered in that count ….You have white women in the category. They receive contracts. Then, white men receive contracts. Where does that leave everybody else"? The next day, Meeks released a written statement further elucidating his comments. It stressed that "all minority- and women-owned businesses" are entitled to their "fair share" of city contracts.

In 2009 and 2010, Meeks worked to pass opportunity scholarships for children in Chicago's worst-performing public schools. This effort was supported by a bipartisan coalition of legislators and outside groups such as the Illinois Policy Institute.

In fall 2008, he announced a boycott of the Chicago Public Schools, urging his congregants and people from other churches to keep their children home until Chicago inner-city schools received more funding from Springfield. Meeks pointed out that at New Trier High School in Winnetka, thousands of dollars more are spent on each student, compared to Chicago Public Schools, where the population is mostly minorities from low-income homes. Over a thousand students met outside New Trier High School in the suburban North Shore to protest. The boycott ended after two days when governor Rod Blagojevich said he would not with Meeks during a boycott.

Meeks has become an outspoken advocate for school reform. The June 2006 findings of the Education Trust and Illinois Education Research Council showed that Chicago's worst schools are getting the worst teachers. Meeks believes that this is a civil rights violation of the students and has demanded that the Illinois Attorney General look into the violation. Meeks and a large group of parents also marched on city hall to meet with Mayor Daley in hopes that he could change the teacher hiring system. Meeks came up with a proposal to solve the teacher inequalities; he says top-notch teachers should be offered a $25,000 signing bonus and an additional $5,000 a year for five years to work in failing schools. The teachers' union has historically been opposed to "hazard pay" because they think all teachers should be paid more.

In 2005, he inaugurated the House of Hope, a 10,000-seat facility. The venue has 203,000 sq ft (19,000 m) of usable space.

Meeks was also concerned with issues of housing affordability. He sponsored a bill which would make permanent a 2003 Executive Order that established a task force to develop Annual Comprehensive Housing Plans to address critical housing issues. The bill focuses its attention on vulnerable groups, including those at risk of homelessness and low income people with disabilities.

In 2002, Meeks became the first state senator to be elected as an Independent. He won re-election in 2006 as a Democrat. In November 2011, he announced that he would not seek reelection when his current term ended in January 2013.

In 1998, Meeks led a movement to "dry up" Roseland Community by collecting votes to close 26 liquor stores. He also created a mentoring program called "It Takes a Village " which provides support and assistance to pregnant youth and young mothers.

In 1985, Meeks, pastor of Beth Eden Baptist Church in Chicago, shared the vision of founding a new church in a sermon. After a meeting with 205 members that same day, he founded the Salem Baptist Church.

The new congregation held its first services January 20, 1985 at 8201 South Jeffrey Boulevard and remained at this location for five-years.

James T. Meeks (born August 4, 1956) is a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, who represented the 15th district from 2003 to 2013. He is also an active Baptist minister in Chicago and chaired the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. He briefly campaigned for Mayor of Chicago in the 2011 election before dropping out of the race. He has now become a leading figure in the campaign to prevent same-sex marriage in Illinois.

James T. Meeks was born in 1956. After graduating from Chicago's Harper High School, Meeks continued his education at Bishop College in Dallas, where he earned a degree in Religion and Philosophy.