This story was reported and published in collaboration with WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit newsroom covering Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods. Stay informed with Chalkbeat Chicago’s newsletter, WBEZ and the Sun-Times’ education newsletter, and Block Club Chicago’s newsletters.
A retired Chicago police officer allied with two local aldermen is looking to unseat a longtime community development advocate who gained an incumbent advantage when the mayor appointed him to represent Chicago’s Far Northwest Side.
Ed Bannon is hoping to fend off Margie Luczak’s challenge with support from the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union, which represents school support staff. But Luczak has secured the backing of special interest groups that favor school choice and charter schools.
Although the school board elections are nonpartisan, political undercurrents are present in voters’ decisions about which candidate aligns with their values. On the Far Northwest Side, voters have been more receptive to conservative candidates than much of Chicago and could be more sympathetic to an “anti-establishment” platform. But the race is inherently much narrower in its scope of issues than a Congressional or presidential campaign, which could reveal diverging attitudes specifically on the topic of education.
The Far Northwest Side is home to 22 schools that enroll more white students than Chicago Public Schools as a whole, but are more diverse than the voting population. Families here choose their neighborhood public schools at higher rates than in other parts of the city.
It’s one of the few areas in Chicago that leaned toward President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. And in 2023, many voters here picked former CPS CEO Paul Vallas over Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Although Bannon was appointed by Johnson, he hasn’t always aligned with him, most notably when he voted in favor of the CPS budget plan Johnson’s other appointees were trying to block last year. Bannon’s record has earned him endorsements from the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Illinois State Council.
Voters looking for a change in leadership may opt for Luczak, who served on Chicago’s police force for more than 25 years. In many ways, her campaign represents a foil to Bannon’s union-backed candidacy. She proudly says she’s not a “CTU puppet” and is supported by contributions from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and The Urban Center, an organization that advocates for centrist leadership and school choice, including private schools. But she has little direct experience in education.
On a Tuesday night at Jefferson Park’s Copernicus Center, a handful of people — a few teens, a teacher, a parent and her child, and local state Sen. Robert Martwick — quietly filed into a spacious room. It was the night before Chicago Public Schools released its budget proposal, and Ed Bannon was hosting a briefing to explain the district’s finances and hear community members’ concerns. As far as he knew, he was the only board member holding such a meeting.
That community engagement is central to how Bannon sees his role as a school board member.
“I don’t know any way other to run other than just being out there and talking to people and trying to show that my record is one that will improve CPS,” Bannon said.
Bannon’s involvement on the Northwest Side spans several decades. He served as executive director of the Six Corners Association, coordinated business recruitment and retention programs for the 45th Ward, and ran for alderman in 2023. Incumbent Nick Sposato defeated him.
He also served for a decade on the Local School Council for Dever Elementary, where his children attended. Bannon said his long-standing involvement with CPS helped earn him his board appointment from Johnson.
“People are going to say what they’re going to say about how me being appointed somehow influences me as a board member,” Bannon said. “All I can say is I’m doing all those things regardless of (being) appointed or elected.”
Having conversations with constituents is the only way to clear up any preconceived notions about his allegiances, Bannon said. When Steinmetz College Prep teacher Lisa Reed voiced her frustrations with the board at Bannon’s July budget briefing, he didn’t shy away from her questions. Instead, he stepped aside with her after the meeting to hear her out personally.
Read Bannon’s full questionnaire.
If it hadn’t been for the smattering of attendees donning bright yellow shirts with Margie Luczak’s name stamped across, the candidate’s fundraiser at Tommy’s on Higgins might have looked like a large reunion of old friends.
The back of the Norwood Park bar buzzed as Luczak shuffled through the crowd greeting people, including Reed, the teacher who attended Bannon’s budget briefing the night before. The turnout — about 40 people — came as a welcome surprise for Luczak, who has never run for office.
Luczak grew up in West Lawn on the Southwest Side and graduated from Curie High School in the late 1980s. She spent nearly 30 years as a Chicago police officer and worked across several units, including narcotics and licensing.
While Luczak doesn’t have any children, she said she sees the school system through the perspectives of friends whose children attend CPS and through her experience as a taxpayer. In the past year, Luczak said she attended meetings held by The Urban Center and learned more about how the district operates.
“I don’t think the CPS needs more money thrown at them,” Luczak said. “I think they need to fix the issues that are going on first.”
When Luczak retired from the Chicago Police Department in January, she decided it was time to serve her community in a different capacity. Her priorities include lowering property taxes and returning school resource officers to schools — an initiative she said would give kids positive exposure to police officers.
Luczak acknowledges she doesn’t have much direct experience with education, but she believes her extensive policing career equips her with the “common sense” necessary to be a school board member.
“I put out a lot of fires, and so I was a good listener,” Luczak said. “Being on the Chicago school board, I will listen to my community and what their needs are.”
Read Luczak’s full questionnaire.
Makiya Seminera is a reporter covering how the state and federal government affect education in Chicago and across Illinois. Contact Makiya at mseminera@chalkbeat.org.