The first ever fully elected Chicago Board of Education is taking shape as the dust settles from Tuesday’s election.
The historic moment comes after an election that may have resembled normal Chicago politics on its surface. Big spending, dueling endorsements and petition challenges marked the campaign.
But for Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and Illinois Federation of Teachers, casting a vote in the school board election meant “everything.”
“Tuesday was a long time coming,” Davis Gates said. “The only thing I’ve worked on for the last 15 years of my life is bringing that level of democracy to families here in the city.”
Now, with a split board and the district facing a budget shortfall if state lawmakers don’t pass additional funding for this year, members will need to find a way to bridge some of the clear divisions that emerged during the campaign.
As of Thursday afternoon, 10 CTU-aligned candidates had leads in their races, according to unofficial results. That’s enough for a 50/50 split among the board’s 20 regular members.
But with Jessica Biggs winning the race for board president over CTU-backed Hilario Dominguez, any tie-breaking vote might not reliably favor the union.
Biggs told WTTW News earlier this week that her campaign’s list of endorsements — including labor union SEIU, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and a smattering of alderpeople and current board members — demonstrates her ability to bring people together.
Davis Gates said she’s ready to work with the president-elect.
“We have to be a part of the same coalition,” Davis Gates said. “That was an election. This is about offering Chicago schools an opportunity to give our students a world-class education.”
Biggs also counted among her backers billionaire Michael Sacks and the political action committee Common Ground Collective, which spent millions against CTU-backed candidates in this race.
“It’s just a redundant story. The individuals who poured millions of dollars into the race were also the individuals who were staunchly opposed to this legislation passing Springfield,” Davis Gates said, referencing the state bill that paved the way for an elected school board in Chicago.
And despite Dominguez losing the president’s seat, Davis Gates said his campaign brought key issues facing schools into the spotlight.
“It starts the discussion on how we get better lunches for young people inside the school building,” Davis Gates said. “It advances the discussion on universal 3-year-old pre-K. It advances the discussion on sustainable community schools, and I think it shuts the door on school closings in the way the billionaire class has relied on it in the past.”
Among the challenges the new board will face is the potential for a massive mid-year budget gap. The original budget for the school year assumed $150 million in extra funding from the state.
“Throughout the state of Illinois, schools are underfunded,” Davis Gates said. “The state is going to have to come correct.”
The General Assembly will reconvene later this month for its veto session. But with Emanuel “Chris” Welch announcing he will step down as speaker of the House, efforts to secure that additional funding might be more complicated than originally thought.
“Speaker Welch has been a champion of public education well before he was in the General Assembly,” Davis Gates said. “That is a loss for the state of Illinois, definitely for Black people all around the state of Illinois that were happy we had a Black speaker of the House. I won’t hide my disappointment.”
