As Chicago voters make their choices for president and a host of statewide and local offices this year, voters will encounter a new section on the ballot: a list of candidates vying for office. place on the Chicago Board of Education.
The new school board will soon triple in size from the current seven members to 21, making it one of the largest in the country. Next November, voters will choose 10 members and the mayor will appoint the others, and soon all members will be chosen by voters rather than the mayor.
After years of pressure from advocates, the bill to change school board appointments finally passed state lawmakers in 2021. But those working on the legislation could hardly have predicted the dynamics Around this year’s school board race: A mayor with ties to the Chicago Teachers Union amid budget conflicts that led the previous board of directors resigned en masse last month, coupled with a neck-and-neck presidential race that is also deeply polarized.
In all the exchanges, some organizers who fought for an elected school board more than a decade ago say battles over money and politics get in the way of real issues affecting disinvested communities.
Instead, discussions about this election should focus on the lack of textbooks, inadequate pay for school nurses and substandard lunch programs in neighborhood schools, said Shannon Bennett, executive director of the Kenwood Oakland community organization.
“Children’s lives and education should not be for sale,” Bennett said. “This should be about fairness for our communities.”
Off-year elections in Chicago, such as mayoral and aldermanic elections, typically favor traditional Democratic and progressive activists, according to Wayne Steger, a political science professor at DePaul University. This year’s school race, which coincides with the presidential election, means voter turnout will be higher, but unpredictable, as supporters of former President Donald Trump could bring differing opinions to the polls, Steger said .
“The stakes are high, both for students and for parents, for taxpayers, for the ability of the city as a whole to attract and retain families,” Steger said.
In the weeks leading up to the elections, the money flowed in the school board race among different education-related groups. More than 30 candidates in 10 precincts spent more than $8 million on their campaigns, according to election records.
Groups supporting candidates aligned with “school choice,” which in Chicago means they support maintaining selective enrollment and charter schools, have spent more than $3 million through of their super PACs, or political action committees.
Super PACs are prohibited from coordinating in any way with candidates, including sponsorship or financial support. Instead, they often spend money on mailers, advertisements, or text messages in support of or opposition to specific candidates.
Groups supporting CTU-aligned candidates have also spent a lot of money, especially in recent weeks. The two sides clashed ambitious advertising campaignssome with dark political ties to national elections.
A new school board, a divided vision
The two to six candidates from each district have unique visions for shaping public education in Chicago and every race is a little differentt. The city’s districts are large, and the Charter and CTU groups have provided distinct supports in each.
District 2 on the North Side raised the most money for the campaign — $1.2 million as of Monday. The largely Latino-Southwest District 7 follows closely in terms of total money spent, at $1.17 million.
Four candidates are running in South Side District 6, which includes the Loop as well as parts of Englewood, neighborhoods that are very different from each other economically. Nearly $827,000 was spent in this district.
Once the board is installed in January, the new members will be given several key responsibilities. Among them are hiring — and potentially firing — the Chicago Public Schools superintendent, approving the CPS operating budget and setting district priorities.
In recent months, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former social studies teacher and CTU organizer, has continued to push for more funding for CPS in what has become a drama-filled saga.
This fall, Johnson reportedly suggested CPS CEO Pedro Martinez take out a $300 million loan to cover the city’s pension payment and ongoing union contract negotiations, which the school chief refused. When the previous board resigned instead of fire Martinez supposedly at the request of the mayorJohnson immediately appointed a new board of directors. A few weeks later, the new chairman of the board of directors resigned due to controversy surrounding his social networks.
This stunning school board shakeup has piqued the interest of voters who typically don’t care about financial decisions or district leadership, said state Rep. Ann Williams, who led a task force to implement the new council model and helped draw maps for the city. 10 electoral districts.
“People want to feel like there is stability, transparency and accountability when it comes to their schools’ board of trustees,” Williams said. “It feels like the appropriate level of scrutiny and concern is not being given to this very important level of government at a time when it is getting a lot of attention.” »
In drafting the legislation for an elected board, Williams said she hoped for “an orderly transition in governance that would provide time and finances to evolve.” This year’s partially elected, partially appointed model was not meant to be a referendum on Mayor Johnson and his alignment with the CTU, but to democratize the community’s voices on education, Williams said.
At a time of division within CPS, Jack Wuest, executive director of the Alternative Schools Network, worries about the new school board’s ability to come together.
“It will be a challenge to see how the 21 new members of the Board of Education come together as a group to address the budget and key educational issues related to supporting students, such as having enough teachers,” he said. he declared.
Besides Martinez’s plight and a high-interest loan to meet CTU demands and close a budget gap, the more than 30 candidates have other pressing educational issues they must find answers to if elected .
They will address debates about neighborhood schools versus schools of choice – specialty programs, charter schools, magnet schools, and selective enrollment schools. The school board deployed a new five-year strategic plan in mid-September, which directed the district to focus its resources on neighborhood schools after decades of emphasizing schools of choice.
The board will continue to make decisions on how best for the district meeting the needs of migrant studentsas the city transitions from a single model for asylum seekers to a unified system for everyone experiencing homelessness in Chicago. The newly elected members will tackle ongoing efforts to increase literacy rates and math skills following learning losses caused by the pandemic.
Bennett, of the Kenwood Oakland community organization, pointed out that there is a disconnect between the issues policymakers champion and parents’ priorities.
“You ask some parents who are struggling, who work two jobs and have three kids. They don’t worry about page rolls or contracts or things like that,” Bennett said. “They honestly worry about whether their child is coming home with their homework.”
Ikram Mohamed of the Chicago Tribune contributed.
