Chicago City Wire

Early voting for the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education race begins on Thursday, October 3, ahead of the November 5 general election. This marks the first time a candidate will be elected for one of ten districts in the school board.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has endorsed ten candidates and provided campaign donations to nine. Conversely, ten candidates have pledged not to accept any CTU money.

A poll conducted by M3 Strategies in August, commissioned by the Illinois Policy Institute, revealed that only 36% of likely Chicago voters hold a favorable opinion of the CTU, while 46% view it unfavorably. The same poll found that CTU President Stacy Davis Gates is not well-liked; just 17% of likely voters have a favorable opinion of her, with 36% having no opinion and 39% viewing her unfavorably. Additionally, 7% of respondents said they had never heard of her.

To date, the CTU has spent over $175,000 on these races but plans to allocate up to $1 million across the ten school board districts according to budget documents. Historically an advocate for a fully elected 21-member public school board, the union now supports a phased-in approach. In this year's election, ten members will be elected while eleven will be appointed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former union employee. By 2026, all members will be elected.

The CTU's agenda includes reducing reliance on selective enrollment and magnet schools in favor of investing more in local community schools. However, these schools are more costly to fund and often show poorer academic outcomes.

The newly formed school board will handle future collective bargaining agreements with the CTU. The current list of contract demands from the union amounts to over $50 billion over five years.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) currently holds the lowest credit rating among school districts. The CTU has been pushing for the removal of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez due to disagreements regarding school funding and teacher contracts.