The issues facing school board candidates at a contentious time for CPS

As Chicago voters this year make their picks for president and a host of statewide and local offices, voters will encounter a new section on the ballot: a slate of candidates vying for a spot on the Chicago Board of Education.

The new school board will soon triple in size from its current seven members to 21, making it one of the largest in the country. This November, voters will choose 10 members and the mayor will appoint the rest, and soon all of the members will be chosen by voters rather than the mayor.

Following years of pressure from advocates, the bill to change school board appointments was finally pushed through by state legislators 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 disputes that led the previous board to resign en masse last month, coupled with a neck-in-neck presidential contest, which is also deeply polarized.

In all the back-and-forth, some organizers who fought for an elected school board over 10 years ago say battles around money and politics are getting in the way of actual issues affecting disinvested communities.

Instead, conversations about this election should center on a 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 children's lives and education should not be for sale," Bennett said. "It should be about equity for our communities."

Off-year elections in Chicago, such as mayoral and aldermanic races, typically favor traditional Democratic and progressive activists, according to Wayne Steger, a political science professor at DePaul University. This year's school board race coinciding with the presidential election means voter turnout will be higher, but unpredictable — as former President Donald Trump's supporters may bring differing opinions to the polls, Steger said.

"The stakes are enormous, both for students, for parents, for taxpayers, for the ability of the city at large to attract and keep families," said Steger.

In the weeks leading up to the election, money has poured into the school board race from different education-related groups. Over 30 candidates in 10 districts have 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 the continuation of selective enrollment schools and charter schools, have spent more than $3 million through their super PACs, or political action committees.

Super PACs are prohibited from coordinating with candidates in any way, including on endorsements or with financial support. Instead, they often spend money on mailers, ads or text messages in support of or in opposition to specific candidates.

Groups supporting CTU-aligned candidates have also spent big, especially in recent weeks. The two sides have faced off through ambitious ad campaigns , some with darkly political connections to the national election.

A new school board, a divide in vision

The two to six candidates in each district have unique visions for shaping public education in Chicago and every race looks a little differen t. The districts across the city are large, and charter and CTU groups have made separate endorsements in each one.

District 2 on the North Side has garnered the most campaign money — $1.2 million as of Monday. The largely Latino Southwest Side's District 7 is close behind in total money spent at $1.17 million.

Four candidates are running in the South Side's District 6, which includes the Loop and also parts of Englewood, neighborhoods that differ significantly from each other economically. Close to $827,000 has been spent in that district.

Once the board is seated in January, the new members will be tasked with several key responsibilities. Among them are hiring — and potentially firing — the Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer, approving CPS' operating budget and setting the district's priorities.

In recent months, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former social studies teacher and CTU organizer, has continued to push for more funding toward CPS in what has evolved into a drama-laden saga.

This fall, Johnson allegedly suggested CPS CEO Pedro Martinez take out a $300 million loan to cover a pension payment to the city and ongoing union contract negotiations, which the schools chief refused. When the previous board resigned instead of firing Martinez supposedly at the mayor's bidding , Johnson immediately appointed a new board. Several weeks later, the newly appointed board's president resigned due to controversy surrounding his social media.

That stunning school board shakeup has piqued interest in voters who might not typically bat an eye about the district's financial decisions or leadership, said state Rep. Ann Williams, who led a working group to implement the new board model and helped draw maps for the city's 10 voting districts.

"People want to feel that there is stability, transparency and accountability when it comes to the governing board for their schools," said Williams. "It feels like the proper level of scrutiny and concern is not being paid to this very important level of government at a time where it's getting lots of attention."

In drafting legislation for an elected board, Williams said she hoped for "an orderly transition in governance that would provide for time, for finances to evolve." This year's part-elected, part-appointed model was not meant to be a referendum on Mayor Johnson and his alignment with CTU but to democratize community voices about education, Williams said.

At a divisive time in CPS, Jack Wuest, executive director of the Alternative Schools Network, worries about the ability of the newly seated school board to come together.

"It will be a challenge to see how the 21 new Board of Education members coalesce as a group to address the budget and key educational issues of support for the students, like having enough teachers," he said.

Aside from the fate of Martinez and a high-interest loan to meet CTU demands and cover a budget gap, the over 30 candidates have other pressing educational issues they need to find answers to if elected.

They will address debates about neighborhood schools versus schools of choice — specialty programs, charter schools, magnet and selective enrollment schools. The school board rolled out a new five-year strategic plan in mid-September that directed the district to focus resources on neighborhood schools after decades of emphasizing schools of choice.

The board will continue to make decisions about how the district can best respond to the needs of migrant students , as the city transitions from one model catering to asylum-seekers to a unified system for anyone experiencing homelessness in Chicago. The newly elected members will address ongoing efforts to boost literacy rates and math skills following learning losses incurred from the pandemic.

Bennett of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization stressed that there is a disconnect between the issues decision-makers push for and parents' priorities.

"You ask some parents who are struggling, working two jobs and have three kids. They're not worried about page rolls, contracts or things like that," Bennett said. "They're honestly worried about if their child is coming home with homework."

Chicago Tribune's Ikram Mohamed contributed.