CPS School Board: The race in the Far Northwest Side’s District 1

The Northwest Side elementary school OiYan Poon’s daughter attends has been fundraising for a lead-safe water fountain.

As the race for a seat on Chicago’s elected school board heats up, Poon is looking for a 1st District candidate that will prioritize funding neighborhood schools, like her daughter’s. The district includes Portage Park, O’Hare, Dunning, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park and Edison Park.

But other parents with children at selective enrollment, charter or magnet schools might want a candidate focused on supporting those schools following the board of education’s recent decision to shift away from the system of school choice and prioritize investment in neighborhood schools.

At first glance, voters might see an obvious choice between their two options. Jennifer Custer, a former educator and suburban union leader is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, which strongly supports the neighborhood school focus. Michelle Pierre is a veteran education leader, former chief of schools at Chicago’s LEARN Charter School Network and a strong advocate for school choice with financial backing from the political arm of the charter advocacy group, the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.

But in their candidate questionnaires, neither supported the board’s decision to shift away from school choice as a wholesale policy change. Both also support charter schools as an option.

The candidates are also aligned on the two areas embroiling the school district. Schools CEO Pedro Martinez says Mayor Brandon Johnson asked him to resign, but he refused. Their dispute is over how to close a budget deficit and manage strapped school finances going forward. The board has the final say over Martinez’s contract.

At a recent Chalkbeat forum, both candidates said they were fans of Martinez and wanted him to stay. In addition, both were opposed to short-term borrowing for operating costs.

But they differ in other key ways, such as on raising property taxes. Custer says she wants to equally invest in neighborhood schools and charter schools — even if it takes raising property taxes to the maximum allowed. Pierre is against raising property taxes. She is promising to take a hard look at the CPS budget to see where administrative costs can be cut.

They also have different professional backgrounds as educators — all of Custer’s education work has been outside a city — and Pierre has more high-level administrative experience.

Jennifer Custer

Custer moved to the Chicago area 12 years ago from West Bend, Wis. She lives in the Dunning neighborhood and is a stay-at-home mom. Her eldest attends Locke Elementary, her neighborhood school. She holds an M.S. in educational administration from Northern Illinois University.

The 36-year-old was an assistant principal in Addison and taught in northwest suburban Itasca, where she was president of the teacher's union.

Custer said the selective enrollment school system is the most pressing issue in her district, with many residents disapproving of the board’s move away from school choice. She does not support charter expansion.

If elected, Custer wants to build up bilingual programs across CPS and hire more bilingual teachers to meet the needs of the Latino children who make up 53% of the district. Pierre also plans to do so.

While Pierre does not support requiring all schools to select from a certain curriculum authorized by CPS, Custer does.

“There should be standards that all the schools follow, but every classroom is going to look different just because every community looks a little bit different,” Custer said.

Maintaining school buildings across the 1st District and the school system is also high on Custer’s list of campaign promises, which she is willing to raise property taxes to fulfill.

Melanie Lopez, who teaches students with disabilities at the Foreman High School in Portage Park, doesn’t think that’s a good idea.

“I think people are already struggling with groceries and other expenses and raising property taxes for homeowners is just going to put people over the edge,” Lopez said.

Michelle Pierre

Pierre is a native of New York and moved to Chicago six years ago. She lives in the Montclare neighborhood, while her child attends the Chicago High School for the Arts — a Humboldt Park contract school where Pierre is a board member. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Pierre's former job experiences range from teaching public school in the South Bronx, New York to serving as the chief academic officer of the Cleveland public schools, where she oversaw a billion dollar budget. The 48-year-old now works as an executive coach for school superintendents across the county.

Pierre believes her breadth of experience gives her an advantage over Custer.

“When you've had a district-level experience, you are able to understand how money flows in and out,” Pierre said. “You're also able to support a CEO and ask, ‘Where are these funds going?’ Having that experience, allows me to better question our budget and ask for the clarity and transparency that we deserve as constituents and taxpayers.’”

But some community members like Poon are wary of Pierre’s background running charter schools.

“She seems to be a big leader nationally on the charter school movement and on school privatization, which is a problem when we're talking about divestments from public schools,” Poon said.

Though Pierre vows to champion both neighborhood and selective schools, she said that she isn’t opposed to expanding charter schools if there is enough community support.

If elected, Pierre said she will call for an audit of CPS’ budget to identify where administrative costs can be reduced, though she said she does not support cuts to “critical services such as special education, mental health support, or bilingual programs.”

Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. You can reach her at asavchenko@wbez.org.