Candidates for Chicago’s elected school board filed their nominations with the Chicago Board of Elections Monday morning, throwing their hats in the ring for the city’s first elected school board race.
Twenty-four candidates and counting from across the 10 districts lined up at the Chicago Board of Elections main location in the Loop, all vying for the first spot on their district’s ballot. Candidates in line before 9 a.m. will be entered into a lottery in two weeks for that top spot.
In addition to presenting at least 1,000 signatures from residents in their district, candidates must also file a statement of candidacy. They must also provide notarized signatures of their petition circulators and a receipt from the Cook County Clerk’s office showing that they have filed a statement of their economic interests. The Chicago Board of Elections checked each candidate’s number of signatures when they presented their filing documents at the Board of Elections site.
Candidates have until June 24 at 5 p.m. to present their nomination papers before the Chicago Board of Elections considers any objections to candidates, and the ballot will be certified by Aug. 29, according to Max Bever, director of public information at the Chicago Board of Elections.
Chicagoans will vote for their district’s candidate in the Nov. 5 General Election.
Voters can apply to vote by mail starting Aug. 7 and early voting begins Sept. 26. Voters can find their district by looking up their address here.
“What we saw today was a lot of people who were wanting to be here bright and early,” said Bever. “Once they get this filed, they’re an official candidate for the ballot.”
While hopeful board members officially join the race today, most candidates have gathered signatures and developed their campaigns for months. Many are current or former educators, with a few community activists in the mix.
This election is historic for the city, as it marks the first election for Chicago’s school board. Since 1995, each mayor has appointed school board members.
In the 2024 school board election, 10 of the 21 board seats will be chosen by voters, with the other 11 (including the board president) appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. In the next election, in 2026, all 21 seats will be elected.
Elected school board candidates, including Kimberly Brown, submit filing paperwork at the Chicago Board of Elections, June 17, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
With ongoing tension over the district’s budget and the Chicago Teachers Union’s contract demands, several of the candidates’ priorities center around creating greater oversight of the district’s finances and adjusting the funding formula to be more equitable. Their concerns address funding for selective enrollment schools, failing school infrastructure and pensions for CPS teachers.
On Monday, some candidates said they hope an elected school board can bring greater transparency and accountability to CPS operations.
Elected school board candidates including Che “Rhymefest” Smith lines up to file nomination papers at the Chicago Board of Elections, June 17, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Adam Parrott-Sheffer, a candidate for the 10th District, said he hopes the school board will encourage greater public input. “A school board that does things like NASA [does], that makes their data public and says ‘help us figure this out,’ and getting great ideas from the whole community,” said Parrott-Sheffer. “A lot of the other folks that are running, I think, have a similar goal of transparency.”
And several candidates said they think an elected school board is in a prime position to foster accountability.
“With elected school boards, they see you; you’re in their neighborhood,” said Anthony Hargrove, a candidate running for the seat in District 5. “They’ll see you in the street. And so there’s some accountability because you’ve gone out and asked for their signatures.”
