This is what I have been saying.
I call this My Promise 2038. Thank you.
Despite loving to learn, I struggled in elementary school and almost dropped out of high school.
Through those years, I had the support of my schools that got me through.
Like when the high school placed me in a specialized classroom that had extra support and resources.
My life achievements happening now are because I was given the support I needed to make them happen then.
Every. Single. Student. Deserves the same. And every single school deserves the resources to provide that.
Every neighborhood school should have what my school had: the ability to meet needs.
No student should have to leave their neighborhood, or leave an empty school to attend an overcrowded one, just to receive the resources they already deserve.
I do not have all the answers. Parents and teachers do and they need to be heard, not told.
I campaigned against Rahm Emanuel and his school closing policies from the moment he resigned from the White House in 2010.…
I have fought to defeat the notion that for one school to rise, another must struggle and fall.
Through my experience on the Local School Councils of Senn High School in Edgewater and Disney Magnet Elementary School in Uptown, paired with my experience as a housing organizer with amazing nonprofits like Action Now and as a constituent organizer with leaders like Alderman Ameya Pawar, I have learned one thing that makes me most qualified to serve on the first Elected Board of Education.
I know that the next solution is a shared one.
We must share in our schools’ financial opportunities.
We must share in our schools’ abilities to hire great teachers.
We must share in our schools’ safety, no matter the neighborhood.
When the new school year begins in my first term, it will be 2025.
I will start with a promise to the students entering Kindergarten.
By the time these kindergarteners enter high school, their high school must be able to meet their needs.
That is the promise we must make to the class of 2038.
We must start improving now for our students now. But the class of 2038 must be our mandate.
The class of 2038 must finally be the class to graduate from a Chicago Public Schools fully funding their education.
The class of 2038 must finally be the class to graduate from a Chicago Public Schools where every students’ needs are met.
The class of 2038 must finally be the class to graduate from Chicago Public Schools with an elected Board of Education, and we must not let them down.
It is a promise we will share.
We are starting small, but by taking enough time, we will build to where we need to be to get the job done.
I am not starting with a flashy ad, a giant rally, or deep dark money support.
I am starting with this: a letter to you.
A promise.
I am Looking Forward,
Daniel Steven Kleinman
#ShareThePromise
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From a young age, Daniel struggled with mental illness, and was eventually diagnosed with a rare type of disorder categorized as a disability. He has never let that stop him. Daniel moved to Chicago in 2005 to attend Loyola University in the Rogers Park neighborhood. After serving as Student Body President there, he quickly applied to a new role at the local nonprofits at the Edgewater Community Council and the Rogers Park Community Council. He knew how lucky he was to find work during that period of national work shortages. He embraced the community organizing that the housing rights mission required. Daniel has been a community organizer since being a young elementary school student.
At Loyola, Daniel Won With Thousands of Votes.
Daniel’s mom has told the story best. The elementary school Daniel attended implemented a zero tolerance policy toward playing pretend violence. At that time, it meant no more playing pretend Power-Rangers and Pokémon Trainers. And then, the tipping point. The school banned tag. Running, and tapping, was deemed violent. Daniel had had enough. He gathered all of his classmates into a big group, shared the plan, and 10 minutes before recess ended they marched back into the school, right past the principals receptionist, straight into the administrative offices: and sat down. The bell rang. Recess ended. The principal came back to her office. The children were still there, sitting in all the chairs and spilling over sitting onto the floor. The way Daniel’s mom retells, the group did not budge. What happened in the end is one of his mom's pride. The school once again allowed tag. At seven years old, Daniel had staged his first successful sit in. “I don’t know where he learned to do that,” his mother clarifies.
His childhood taught Daniel that, while all people are created equal, laws do not always reflect that noble truth. During his winter break one year, he recruited a film maker friend and set out to film a documentary about poverty in Chicago. Interviewing Chicagoans impacted by homelessness, the public who believed they understood homelessness, while also interviewing the non profit front line working with those experiencing unhoused, and even interviewed famed Chicago author, Alex Kotlowitz (There are No Children Here, 1992).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nC4a5zM8lQ
Daniel has been a passionate Chicagoan. After partnering and practicing with block clubs around Chicago, he put his values and expertise to work when he set out to create a positive community experience right on a block that was known for its crime. Everyone was invited. And after weeks of planning, after reaching out to neighbors to generate excitement: everyone loved how diverse the crowd always was while visiting and this reflected the reality of the Edgewater neighborhood. The events were every Tuesday night all summer long. The feedback was so generous that the event carried on for 3 more summers.
This passion continued into roles in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and the North Lawndale community area. Once again, nonprofits picked Daniel to accomplish this task, trusting his ability to relate to all people he meets. He helped organize large rallies against big banks, and Daniel took pride walking with the Chicago Teachers Union during their strike against Rahm Emanuel and again during its work stoppage.
Daniel has been working with State Senators and State Represents to ensure that the implementation of the school board meets its own needs. He has served on Local School Councils for six years. His first term, he served on the LSC of Edgewater’s Senn high school. Then, for two terms at Disney Magnet School, dealing with COVID, a principal’s retirement, and a gun brought into the building. At these schools Daniel further developed his mindset toward leadership. It takes a coalition.
Students need support of a fully functioning school. Students need nurses. Students need librarians. Students need teaching assistants. Students need social workers. Students need wrap around services. After all, he did.
Daniel knows this is true. He saw it. He would not have graduated high school and would have been held back by his mental illness disability. Instead, Daniel’s high school provided wrap around services that saved his health, promoted self-structure and confidence, and enabled him to meet his study goals. Daniel recounts how he owes everything to the teachers and staff who provided such productive care in that special resource classroom hidden in the high school’s fourth floor. Instead of failing out of high school, he was given the resources he needed to graduate.
It was in that same mentality that Daniel passionately lobbied Springfield to fund what was a new program to draw current professionals to return to college to earn a teaching certificate and work at a school that has great need. Winning over $2M in state appropriations, Grow Your Own Teachers was a highlight of his organizing career.
Daniel also has a unique experience in the classroom. For three winters, Daniel traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, to teach and tutor English. Daniel worked at both government provided school buildings and also privately funded schools which are often affiliated and funded by a monastery on the grounds. It was very rewarding. What Daniel loved even more than teaching eager students the English Language, Daniel engrossed himself in his own language studies: he had studied the Thai language before traveling, not only enabling him to teach bilingually, but allowing him to practice and learn even more Thai. Not to mention, Daniel could not get enough of the delicious food.
Among the first he called was his Grandpa on his mom’s side. As a child, Grandpa gave him a book called “The Giant Book of Knowledge,” and said, “If you can memorize this book, you’ll be one of the smartest people around." Obviously, Daniel did not memorize that book, but he continues to practice today.
Daniel has loving memories of his father’s parents also. As members of the Ashkenazi diaspora, his Grandma and Grandpa engaged Daniel in Jewish teaching and traditions, making Daniel proud of his Jewish roots. He constantly remembers his joy participating in the practices, with family for Passover, Hanukkah, and even at Loyola for Hookah in the Sukkah.
Now, as an adult, Daniel serves the St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Chicago’s Grand Boulevard Community area. Near the 43rd street exit. As a Deacon within this historically black church, Daniel regularly attends and contributes to Sunday School lessons and delivers sermonette's under the leadership of Pastor Kevin A. Ford.
After earning a Paralegal Certificate in Corporate law, Daniel found himself engrossed in Immigration policies. Daniel remembers feeling pride in one particular case. A gentleman had immigrated to the United States 25 years ago under special protected status from the war in Bosnia. His visa was expiring and he had already begun the process for a “green card.” But then he brought me a notice from the immigration office. He had missed his in person interview, but for an understandable reason. This foreign national had a severe stroke only weeks before this interview. Daniel researched how to remedy this matter. Daniel connected this gentleman with a doctor who specialized in working with the Citizenship and Immigration Services. After a month of procedural movement, Daniel secured an exam and interview with accommodations for this foreign national.
Having organized a coalition of new block clubs in Lincoln Square, Daniel used his experiences to create an easy to follow manual that anyone could pick up to start organizing their new block club. A few years ago, Daniel would track how many downloads the manual would get. However, as it grew in popularity, the packet was shared on other sites, like Habitat for Humanity in Chicago, and it became harder to trace, but more rewarding. It did not matter how eager neighbors were downloading the manual, Daniel would get emails from all over the country. https://danielkleinman.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/The-New-Neighborhood-Block-Club-Manual-2.pdf
Daniel lives with his wife, Shay, near the Thorndale Redline Station. On a daily basis, Daniel and Shay are reminded of their interracial marriage. While some residents do not notice them, some smile with them or exchange good mornings, but there are also those who openly disdain their relationship and they let their displeasure be known. Receiving shouts or even thrown ice from a cup, they love the privilege living there, residents of the Greatest City on Earth, and cannot imagine living anywhere else.
As a hobby, Daniel loves airplanes and the science of aerodynamics. Younger, he built several rockets and a propeller driven remote control plane. He has even piloted a stunt glider along a coastal mountain (a plane that has no engine and must maneuver with wind and gravity).
Daniel is looking forward to connecting with you and making the difference we know we can.