Chicago Public Schools Board of Education Appoints Ruchi Verma as General Counsel

The Chicago Board of Education today appointed Ruchi Verma to succeed Joseph Moriarty as the Board’s General Counsel, effective March 4, 2023. Verma, a 14-year veteran of the CPS Law Department, held various positions before serving most recently as the first deputy general counsel. 

“The Board has worked with Ruchi for the past three-and-a-half years in her role as first deputy general counsel and benefitted from her experience and legal insights as well as her dedication to Chicago students, families and our CPS team members,” said Board President Miguel del Valle. “We are pleased to announce her appointment and are confident she is a great fit for this key role.” 

Ms. Verma is an expert in school law issues, including issues related to student rights and responsibilities, school improvement, local school council relations, charter school oversight, and student privacy.

“We are very grateful to Joseph Moriarty for his 19 years of dedicated commitment to our students and staff at CPS, and I feel fortunate to have such a seasoned professional like Ruchi stepping into a critically important role as part of our District’s leadership team,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “Her knowledge and expertise will allow the Law Department to seamlessly continue its work to support our mission of providing every child from every community in Chicago with a world-class education.”

Ruchi began practicing law at Sidley & Austin, LLP in 2003. She became a CPS lawyer in 2008 when she joined the CPS Law Department’s school law practice area as an Assistant General Counsel.  She was promoted to lead that unit as deputy general counsel in 2012. In 2019, the Board tapped Ruchi to be the first assistant to the general counsel, drawing on her wealth of knowledge and experience in education issues.  

Ruchi is a graduate of University of Illinois with a B.A. in Political Science and Speech Communications and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She and her husband reside in Chicago with their two young children.

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About Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools serves more than 322,000 students in 635 schools. It is the nation’s fourth-largest school district.