For the first time, Chicago voters were able to cast their vote for the city’s Board of Education. Chicago has been divided into 10 school board districts, each with around 275,000 residents. Starting January 2025, the Board of Education will have 21 members, 10 elected and 11 appointed by the mayor, according to the Chicago Board of Education’s website.

Leading up to November 5, voters attended candidate forums while several public-facing conflicts involving Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Board of Education — who recently resigned en masse and were replaced — have made headlines.

Mark, parent of two Chicago Public Schools students, said he has gone through three Chicago Teachers Union strikes since his kids have been in public school. He said he hopes that the newly elected school board will be a step in the right direction.

“I hope so, I mean, they have got to do something different,” Mark said. “We’ve got to get rid of these strikes, but then again, we’re always in debt, so I don’t know.”

The school board race has also been influenced by elements of the presidential election. Campaign mailers funded by the Chicago Teachers Union accused some non-Chicago Teachers Union-endorsed candidates of supporting Project 2025, according to Chalkbeat Chicago.

As of October 28, around $7 million has been spent in the race for school board, which includes major contributions from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and pro-school-choice political action committees, according to Chalkbeat Chicago.

About $495,400 have been given to District 4 campaigns, which also has the greatest number of candidates running, according to ChalkBeat Chicago. Drew Hultgren, a preschool teacher, said she would vote for District 4 candidate Ellen Rosenfeld.

“Just the fact that she’s supported by so many CPS teachers,” Hultgren said. “I really believe in the CPS teachers union as a whole, so that’s exciting to see them have a candidate who was a teacher that they feel proud of.”

While Ellen Rosenfeld is not endorsed by the CTU, she used to teach third grade in Chicago Public Schools, according to her campaign website.

Twenty-three percent of voters said it was “very/somewhat hard” to find the information they need to inform their vote in local elections, compared to 13% for presidential elections, according to a January 2024 survey conducted by Pew Research Center.

To inform herself on local elections, Hultgren said she reads articles from Block Club Chicago.

“I love Block Club Chicago,” Hultgren said. “I love to read their pieces that they have and I feel like that’s always a good source.”

Header by Varun Khushalani