Big money expected to flow in November’s historic Chicago school board race

After a summer of tense budget debates, a handful of Chicago school board members that blocked the district from borrowing to erase a deficit got a little gift from a man with big pockets.

This fall, billionaire Michael Sacks contributed the legal limit of $7,300 to seven incumbent board members’ campaign funds. It was part of a donation spree in which Sacks also gave $400 to many City Council members who went against Mayor Brandon Johnson to pass an alternative city budget.

The business executive known for giving big to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s campaigns is gearing up for more. Through a spokesperson, Sacks says “he will continue to proudly support independent CPS Board candidates who make decisions in the best interest of CPS school children and their families.” Sacks is also a major donor to a new super PAC called the Common Ground Collective, which plans to back certain school board candidates.

So far, the SEIU Illinois Council PAC is one of the few other donors that has given to multiple school board members in the past six months. The union’s political action committee, which can contribute more than individuals, gave $10,000 to five of the same incumbents as Sacks.

As Chicago heads into a monumental school board election this fall, these early donations may offer a glimpse at some of the race’s potential big players and the issues that motivate them.

Many expect spending on this election cycle to exceed what was spent on Chicago’s first-ever school board race in 2024. That topped $13 million according to an analysis by Chalkbeat Chicago, but involved just 10 seats. Now all 21 seats are up for grabs, and the at-large board president will have to run a citywide campaign.

“We are gearing up to another eight-figures race,” said Hal Woods, a chief of policy at the parent advocacy organization Kids First Chicago.

So far, the only person to announce a run for school board president, Sendhil Revuluri, has raised $190,000. The former school board member donated $68,000 to himself, and the rest has come from individuals, including the founder of dating app OKCupid and his wife, Sam and Jessica Yagan.

Among the incumbent board members, Carlos Rivas has the most money, with about $40,000. Rivas represents the Southwest Side and was well supported by pro-charter school forces in the last election.

Woods says he thinks labor-backed and pro-charter school factions will battle like they did in 2024, but some new entities also will play a role, like the Common Ground Collective. The business community has come out strongly against Mayor Johnson and his allies on the school board, painting them as financially irresponsible for wanting to spend, tax and borrow rather than cut.

At the same time, the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU-Local 73 may not get behind the same candidates, as they did in the first election. The labor groups that represent the most staff in Chicago Public Schools have had some public conflicts, though SEIU’s president points out they still have a lot of aligned interests.

Big money lining up for school board race

In the 2024 school board election, two political committees bolstered by millionaires and billionaires actively contributed. Both the INCS Action Committee, affiliated with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, and a new entity, The Urban Center, were supportive of charter schools and wanted to limit the power of the Chicago Teachers Union, which opposes the private management of public schools.

Both groups intend to get involved this year, as do two other groups with PACs and super PACs supported by super-wealthy donors. Already, INCS’ super PAC has $3.5 million on hand — more than any other committee.

All these groups may be better prepared this time around. In the 2024 race, the state legislature did not approve a district map until March, giving candidates little time to mount a campaign by November.

Organizations now have had more time to find potential candidates, Woods says, and they’re also teaming up. The leaders of INCS and The Urban Center, for example, say they have been identifying potential candidates and are exploring ways to partner.

Andrew Broy, who runs INCS, the advocacy organization for charter schools, says they’ve raised a lot of money because several elections are coming up, including races for Congress and Chicago’s mayor, in addition to the school board.

Broy says he thinks big-money donors are ready to pony up for the board race for reasons beyond their support for charter schools. INCS’ political action committees favor publicly funded, privately run charters, but are also interested in school accountability and other public education issues, he says.

“There's a consensus in the city, among many people, that the current trajectory of the board has not been good for students, and so there's interest to change,” he says.

The Urban Center’s political groups haven’t raised much but CEO Juan Rangel says he has been vetting and recruiting candidates. His group is strategizing about whether to be involved in all board races or to choose more competitive ones.

Rangel, a former charter school operator who more recently ran a private school scholarship organization, joined with former CPS CEO and recent mayoral candidate Paul Vallas to form The Urban Center.

Rangel says he learned how hard it is for individual candidates to run a successful campaign, and he says his organization will be helpful in “empowering” them by creating fliers or running commercials to support them.

Two new organizations could add even more money to the school board races.

The Common Ground Collective is run by two former cabinet members of former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. The school board dramatically ousted Martinez from his position in December 2024 after he pushed back on borrowing to keep the cash-strapped district afloat.

Like Sacks, the Common Ground Collective said in a statement it will get behind “independent Chicago School board candidates” who support “high-quality education and responsible budgeting.”

While Sacks’ spokesperson says the Common Ground Collective is supported by many in the business community, Sacks has donated more than half of the $1 million the organization has raised.

One Future Illinois is also looking to get involved. The group’s chairman is investment banker Steve Koch, who served as deputy mayor under Emanuel. In a text message, the president of One Future Illinois’ PAC, Michael Ruemmler, said the group will be watching the school board races closely and plans to be engaged. As of late December, the PAC had raised $89,000.

“A quality education system is fundamental to having a thriving, growing city and that’s what we are devoted to building,” he wrote.

Labor unions also likely to play prominent role in race

These big-money committees may hope to find an unexpected ally in the SEIU’s political committee. SEIU is seen as a progressive union that has backed many of the same candidates as the CTU, but they’ve had public fights over who should represent aides for special education students and hourly workers, such as tutors or recess monitors.

SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer says not to make too much of the $10,000 that the union recently gave to five board members who also got donations from Sacks. Palmer says these incumbents had fundraisers that she and other SEIU leaders wanted to support.

And these donations were separate from the union’s endorsement process, which involves a committee and will focus on finding candidates that are “supportive of membership and understand our issues,” Palmer said.

Palmer says she thinks the SEIU Local 73 and the CTU are looking for many of the same things.

“We want good schools and for students to have the best education, but we also want our members to have a good work life,” she said.

Hilario Dominguez, a political director for the CTU, also downplays the differences between SEIU and CTU. He says the big fight is against Sacks, other super-wealthy donors and pro-charter forces.

“It's going to be a tough battle for the future of our schools and our members are going to do everything we can," he said.

The CTU’s PACs have about $600,000, but they get replenished regularly through union dues. The CTU also has related political committees, including United Working Families, which has about $200,000 on hand.

Dominguez says while the union has been encouraging certain people to run, the CTU will not donate any money until after the union goes through an endorsement process.

Regardless of how much they raise, he says the CTU-backed candidates will have an army of members behind them, who will “get the word out.”