Jacob Loeb

As a board member, in September 1915, Loeb led the passage of the so-called "Loeb Rule", which declared that any teacher that was a member of a trade union or any other unauthorized society would not be hired by the Chicago Board of Education to work in Chicago Public Schools.[3] Litigation launched by the Chicago Teachers Federation against the Chicago Board of Education regarding the rule was fought in many courts. In April 1917, the Supreme Court of Illinois upheld the rule.[4]

In December 1915, Loeb was elected by a vote of the members of the Chicago Board of Education to serve as the board's president.[5] The board reelected him as president for another year in December 1916, with Loeb receiving twelve votes in support of his reelection.[6]

Early in his presidency, Loeb altered the procurement of all fire insurance for school buildings, opening it up to bidding.[7]

In a 1917 exposé, The Day Book, accused Loeb's fire insurance company of connecting him with merchants and manufacturers belonging to the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, which had been hostile to the Chicago Teachers Federation.[8]

On May 31, 1917, the Chicago City Council voted 42–24 to confirm the appointment by Mayor William Hale Thompson of Loeb to an additional five-year term on the Chicago Board of Education. This was seen was a rebuke to Margaret Haley and her Chicago Teachers Federation's attempt to see a more union-friendly board appointed.[9] The city's largest unions all lined in opposition to the confirmation of Loeb's reappointment, even the United Hebrew Trades chapter (who acknowledged in their statement of opposition that Loeb was a fellow Jew).[10] Loeb had been renominated by the Republican mayor despite being a Democrat himself.[11]

On May 22, 1917, Loeb accused Thompson and Frederick Lundin of attempting to extend their political influence to the school system.[12][13] On June 18, 1917, the Chicago Board of Education voted to oust Loeb as president. The school board's attorney disagreed with this action, and Loeb [14] This was orchestrated by Mayor Thompson and his allies on the board.[15][16] Mayor Thompson also orchestrated the removal of two other individuals from their positions on the Chicago Board of Education, removing Lewis Larson as secretary of the board and Angus Roy Shannon as the board's lawyer.[15] Loeb soon blamed his ouster on the political machine headed by Thompson and Lundin, and asserted that his ouster proved his accusations made the month prior.[12] This ouster did not come without controversy. On June 22, Cook County State's Attorney Maclay Hoyne argued that these removals had been illegal and that Loeb was still school board president.[17][18] On June 22, 1917, the Chicago City Council voted to refused to recognize the appointment of new school board officers selected by Mayor Thompson. They instead voted to reinstate Loeb and the two other removed officers of the school board. The mayor had attempted had adjourn the meeting before the vote, and left the meeting, but Alderman John A. Richert presided in his absence.[15] The City Council saw a resolutions proposed at the meeting request the mayor's resignation, and another to launch an impeachment inquiry (despite there being no mechanism for the Chicago City Council to impeach a mayor).[15][19] The mayor attempted to fight the reinstatement of the three school board members, having fifty policemen guard the Chicago Board of Education's offices to keep the three out.[15] State's Attorney Hoyne launched an investigation to determine whether or not Mayor Thompson was guilty of malfeasance in office for failing to recognize the rights of the City Council.[15]

Loeb was not restored to the office of board president

Loeb continued to serve on the board.[20]