School Board Elections 2024

Chicago School Board Elections: Get to know the district candidates in these Chalkbeat forums

Candidates for all 10 districts answered questions before the Nov. 5 election.

By 
Chalkbeat Staff
 | October 29, 2024, 9:32pm UTC
A polling location for the Illinois primary election on June 28, 2022. (Becky Vevea / Chalkbeat)

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Chalkbeat Chicago hosted 10 school board candidate forums in early October to ask the people running what they think about big issues facing Chicago Public Schools.

These live Q&A forums, moderated by Chalkbeat journalists, dug deeper on how candidates view key parts of the role of being a school board member, including balancing an annual budget, overseeing district leadership, and managing school infrastructure.

Related
Voter guide, candidate profiles and more: Everything you need to know about the Chicago school board race

You can find what district you live in using our interactive map, and read more about the candidates in these profiles written with Block Club Chicago and our voter guide produced in partnership with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chicagoans will cast a vote for the school board for the first time ever this Nov. 5. Early voting is available at locations across the city.

Ten people will be elected to represent 10 geographic districts for two years, while the mayor will appoint 10 people from those districts and a school board president. All 21 new members will be sworn in on Jan. 15, 2025.

Watch the forums for each district by clicking on the corresponding video below.

District 1

Jennifer Custer and Michelle N. Pierre are vying to represent District 1 on the Chicago Board of Education.

District 2

Maggie Cullerton Hooper, Kate Doyle, Ebony DeBerry, and Bruce Leon are vying to represent District 2 on the Chicago Board of Education.

District 3

Carlos Rivas Jr. and Jason Dónes are candidates to represent District 3 on the Chicago Board of Education.

District 4

Kimberly Brown, Andy Davis, Thomas Day, Carmen Gioiosa, Ellen Rosenfeld, and Karen Zaccor are vying to represent District 4 on the Chicago Board of Education.


District 5

Jitu Brown, Kernetha Jones, and Jousef Shkoukani are candidates to represent District 5 on the Chicago Board of Education. Michillia Blaise dropped out of the race.

District 6

Jessica Biggs, Andre Smith, Anusha Thotakura, and Danielle J. Wallace are candidates to represent District 6 on the Chicago Board of Education.

District 7

Raquel Don, Yesenia Lopez, and Eva A. Villalobos are on the ballot for District 7 of the Chicago Board of Education.


District 8

Angel Gutierrez and Felix Ponce are vying to represent District 8 on the Chicago Board of Education.

District 9

Therese Boyle, Lanetta M. Thomas, La’Mont Raymond Williams, and Miquel Lewis are running for the Chicago Board of Education seat representing District 9.

District 10

Robert Jones, Karin Norington-Reaves, Adam Parrott-Sheffer, and Che “Rhymefest” Smith are on the ballot for District 10 of the Chicago Board of Education.

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