Mila Koumpilova

Mila Koumpilova

Senior Reporter, Chalkbeat Chicago

Mila Koumpilova is a Senior Reporter at Chalkbeat Chicago. She previously wrote about higher education and immigration at the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis. Mila has also covered education at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Forum in Fargo, N.D. A former North Dakota Rookie Reporter of the Year, she has received recognition from the Education Writers Association, the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists and others. She is a graduate of the American University in Bulgaria and the Missouri School of Journalism.

Therese Boyle and Che “Rhymefest” Smith were declared winners in the race for Chicago school board seats in Districts 9 and 10, respectively. District 1 has not been called.

Chicago voters delivered a mixed message in the city’s historic first school board elections. A mix of union-backed candidates, independents, and school choice backers won seats.

The district said it’s in a better position to offer rides to students with disabilities and launch a new hub program.

Since April 1, nearly $4 million has flowed into candidates’ campaign funds and more than $2.8 million has been spent by two pro-school choice independent expenditure committees.

The Back to Our Future program set out to reengage Chicago teens who had not attended school for more than a year but ran into hurdles.

The seven new members appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson did not take action Thursday to remove CEO Pedro Martinez.

After the entire school board decided to step down amid a budget dispute, criticism from city aldermen and others is raining down on Brandon Johnson.

The pro-school choice advocacy group contributed enough in several board districts to lift campaign contribution limits for all candidates.

The Chicago neighborhoods where Robert Jones, Karin Norington-Reaves, Adam Parrott-Sheffer, and Che 'Rhymefest' Smith are vying for a school board seat stretch from Hyde Park to the Illinois-Indiana border.