Chicago School Board District 5 results
Long-time activist Aaron “Jitu” Brown has easily won the race to represent the 5th district on Chicago’s first elected school board, the Associated Press reports, defeating two write-in candidates.
He’s fought for an elected school board for almost two decades “to stop “people outside of our communities making decisions about the institutions that impact our lives.” In 2015, he participated in the hunger strike that saved Dyett High School after Chicago Public Schools voted to close it.
At his watch party Tuesday night, Brown said being elected to the board he helped create was a dream come true.
“It's been a lot of work, it's been a lot of frustration,” Brown said. “So this moment, it feels good. I'm happy tonight, but also I know that the work is just beginning.”
His supporters declared his win a symbol of what’s possible between a South and West Side coalition.
“We are going to reimagine education on the West Side of Chicago,” Brown said to the crowd. “
Brown is the National director of the Journey for Justice Alliance, a national network of community groups that advocate against the privatization of public schools. He was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
Brown will represent a district that stretches from the affluent West Loop into the more disinvested West Side neighborhoods of West Garfield Park and Austin, which Brown calls home.
Brown’s campaign goals include prioritizing neighborhood schools, ending “punitive” standardized testing and developing a pre-K through 12th grade model to encourage parents to send their kids to neighborhood schools instead of charter schools.
At a recent Chalkbeat forum, Brown said he did not know if he would support keeping the CPS CEO if elected. Asked if he supported a high-interest loan for operating costs, which the mayor has floated to manage CPS’ deficit, Brown said, “As opposed to cutting primarily Black or brown schools, [if that] means children without a teacher, students without resources: yes.”
Jousef M. Shkoukani decided to run as a write-in after he didn’t make the ballot to give 5th District residents a choice.
“I’m not backed by a special interest group like the CTU,” Shkoukani said. “I just genuinely care about the prospect of our future education here in Chicago.”
Shkoukani said he plans to run for a seat again in 2026.
Write-in candidate Kernetha Jones didn’t respond to requests for comment.