Overview
- Chicago voters cast ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 3 to elect all 21 members of the Board of Education, including the city’s first elected board president.
- The three-way race for board president drew millions in outside spending and intense scrutiny over candidates’ ties to unions and past controversies.
- Outside PACs and super PACs concentrated large sums in district fights, with District 1b receiving more than $830,000 and the Common Ground Collective and Illinois Network of Charter Schools major funders.
- Campaigns focused on how to fix CPS’s finances and falling enrollment, with contenders split between taxing the wealthy, pursuing state aid, relying on high-interest loans, or cutting internal costs.
- Labor politics were fractured as the Chicago Teachers Union backed many incumbents while SEIU and pro–charter groups backed rivals, a split that will shape the board’s decisions on school programs, special education and potential closures.