CPS School Board: South Side District 9
The race for Chicago’s School Board in the district that stretches to the far southwest corner of the city features a longtime school psychologist who challenged the leadership of the Chicago Teacher Union versus a CTU-endorsed mother who fought against school closings as a student a decade ago.
Add to the mix the chairman of a large charter school network who did a short stint on the School Board under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The fourth candidate, La’Mont Raymond Williams, starts his speeches at forums by declaring himself the only independent candidate. The young lawyer is chief of staff and general counsel for Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry.
District 9 includes Beverly and Mount Greenwood on the south and New City and Canaryville on the north. It has almost 100 schools, one-fifth run by private charter school operators and dozens of low-enrollment elementary schools.
Compared to other district races, District 9 candidates have raised relatively little money. No candidate has raised more than $60,000 in contributions and in-kind donations, with most raising far less. One candidate is getting a lot of support from independent expenditure organizations; Williams has less than $11,000 — $10,000 from his boss.
Lanetta Thomas, endorsed by the CTU, raised less than $16,000 as of Tuesday, including some in-kind contributions by CTU’s political action groups. Thomas is a U.S. Army veteran, works with several progressive activist organizations and has school-aged children with special needs.
Thomas said she will maintain her independence from the CTU by having a laser focus on what is good for students. “If the conversation isn't centered around their needs,” she said, “then it isn't a conversation worth having.”
Miquel Lewis, a psychologist, is acting director of Cook County’s Juvenile Probation Court Services. He’s also board chairman of the Noble Schools, one of the city’s largest charter networks. He’s received financial backing from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ political arms and from other vocal charter proponents. He’s also endorsed by the Urban Action Center, an anti-CTU political organization.
Both groups are financed by local business executives and outside billionaires, including California-based Reed Hastings, co-founder and chairman of Netflix. As of Tuesday, the two groups, which can’t coordinate with Lewis, have spent $284,000 on ads and texts supporting Lewis as of Tuesday, election records show.
Therese Boyle is part of the CTU’s Members First caucus, which ran against CTU President Stacy Davis Gates’ CORE caucus in recent union elections. Unlike CORE’s focus on social justice issues, Members First prioritizes issues such as wages and benefits.
Boyle said she had no idea running would be so intense with so much money flowing in. “I am just flying under the radar and doing my own thing,” she said. Boyle has had the most campaign money, at nearly $59,000, but much of it she donated to herself.
School district leadership and budget
Most candidates running for school board say they would retain Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and reject a high-interest short-term loan. These questions were spurred by a conflict between Martinez and the mayor over how to deal with a budget shortfall this year. Martinez says Johnson asked him to resign, but he says he refused.
Lewis, Williams and Boyle said they would keep Martinez and reject taking a loan, which is how the mayor has said he wants to address the shortfall. Lewis said it would be wrong to replace the CEO while the district is in contract negotiations with teachers.
Williams said he understands the mayor has some say over the CEO, and that the board must evaluate the CEO to ensure he aligns with the district’s vision. But he thinks stability is also important.
The idea of Martinez being pushed out just as school is getting started is “disconcerting,” Boyle said. The fact that the whole board resigned rather than fire him is a significant sign to her.
Thomas wouldn’t commit either way to keeping Martinez or on the question of the loan. She said she respects Martinez’s opinion about the loan as being too risky, but said the school district might need the loan to meet demands in the CTU and principals' contract proposals.
She values some of those proposals, such as providing affordable housing for unhoused students. If Martinez cannot make these things happen, Thomas said, “he has to go.”
School choice and school type
Lewis is a staunch proponent of charter schools, saying they fill a void between selective enrollment and neighborhood schools. When he was on the Board of Education briefly in 2023, Lewis said he learned charter schools are held to a higher standard than district-run schools.
Williams is also supportive of charter schools, but says if they aren’t up to snuff, they should be closed. “I don't want to take away the choice from parents … parents know best what their students need,” he said. “But I do believe in accountability.”
Boyle is not a proponent of charter schools. She has had concerns about their ability to serve students with disabilities. But she notes that state law requires the district to consider and support charter schools, and while that is in place, she would give them fair consideration.
Out campaigning, Boyle found that families in District 9 are committed to their magnet and selective enrollment schools. On our questionnaire, she said she would not want to take away that experience. But she said she wants neighborhood schools to be just as good as selective schools.
Boyle pointed to the new way CPS distributes money to schools, which is based more on student need than on enrollment. She said she hopes it will help level funding.
Williams agrees, saying that a world-class education should not be restricted to any one type of school. He went to selective enrollment elementary and high schools.
“I had the best of CPS, while my siblings who shared the same household as me did not,” he said at an online forum hosted by Chalkbeat.
Thomas, who supports keeping charter schools, made an impassioned plea for selective enrollment schools to be more inclusive. She said her 10-year-old daughter is autistic and cannot read, but is a “damn good artist” and “brilliant” in math.
“So just don't count kids out,” she told Chalkbeat. Rather than test-in admissions, she said, “Maybe ask, ‘What do you do? What do you know? Where does your brilliance lie?’”
Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZeducation and @sskedreporter.