Teachers union offering school board voters reverse voter suppression

If its slate of candidates prevail CTU will control Chicago City Hall and the school board

When Chicago voters go to the polls in November to elect half of the first voter-chosen school board in decades they will be faced with some familiar names - many of whom have unsuccessfully run previously for public office. Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Andre Smith (no relation) and Karin-Norington-Reaves have all asked voters in the past to elect them-none have been successful. Their chances of being successful in this bid for office are dimmed unless they can each raise an astronomical amount of money. The adage “money is the mother’s milk of politics” will be front and center thanks to the Chicago Teachers Union.

It has been repeatedly and widely reported that besides sending thousands of its members to knock on doors on behalf of Brandon Johnson and his run to the mayor’s office; the Chicago Teachers Union poured more than $3 million into his war chest. Some sources maintain it was as much as $5 million. Regardless of the amount Johnson won the race.

With the election of one half of the school board appointed by the mayor on the horizon, CTU plans to once again use its financial clout to elect the other half. A leaked CTU budget document revealed the union plans to pour $1 million into the school board elections. Although the races in some district will be less contested than in others, and favored candidates won’t need as many dollars as others; the money still averages out to $100,000 per district. That is more than any candidate will raise on his or her own. And just like with Johnson, a person receiving that big of a boost will be beholden to the union.

The matter is compounded when taken into account that Johnson, thanks to state law, will be able to appoint 11 members and select the board’s president. It translates into a new form of voter suppression given that CTUs’ dollars will give its chosen few advantages in messaging, staffing, signage and all of the ancillary elements associated with running a campaign.

Those kinds of funds will tremendously overshadow what candidates not backed by CTU will be able to do. Their fundraising capabilities will be severely limited as they will be competing with candidates also raising money for U.S. House, state legislative offices and Illinois Supreme Court. School board members, unlike alderpersons, will not be paid for their service.

What may be the most egregious part of CTU’s plot is of the candidates they are endorsing; none have the financial acumen to help lead the solution to resolving the district’s looming $400 million budget deficit-not one of them. While nearly half of the 47 candidates tout experience as a classroom teacher, or principal; none have district wide chops on the financial side. Activists who in the past have railed about the shortcomings of the school system now want to be part of that same system but bring no plausible solutions. They are adept at noting the problems, and that is where their “commitment” ends.

None of the candidates from the nonprofit sector, like the activists bring no public sector experience, or familiarity with multi-million budgets-much less one in the billions of dollars like CPS’s.

However, there are business minds among the candidates CTU is not endorsing. Those are the individuals who voters should lean toward.

Support Urban Legends

There are 10 seats that a total of 47 candidates will vie for. These seats represent 10 districts of the city. The 6th and 10th districts are situated on the South Side and have 12 candidates hoping to get the two seats available. Of course, with that wide and deep a swatch on the South Side. the election is flooded with Black folks contending for the same seat - seven candidates in the 10th District-more than any other district.

The District 6 candidates are:

Jessica Biggs

Jessica Biggs is a former teacher and CPS principal. 

She holds an Ed.M. in school leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and, in 2020, completed a fellowship at the University of Chicago Civic Leadership Academy. From 2012 to 2018, Biggs served as principal of CPS’ Burke Elementary School in Washington Park. For the last five years, she has worked as an organizer at the Southwest Organizing Project, an interfaith community group, where she focuses on projects related to health equity and community well-being.

Biggs was the first candidate in District 6 to submit her petitions, securing the first ballot spot, according to her campaign website. She is endorsed by Alds. Pat Dowell (3rd) and Lamont Robinson (4th). 

Brenda Delgado 

Brenda Delgado is the board vice president of Raise Your Hand, a nonprofit promoting public education in Illinois, and a former Local School Council member.

A Washington Park resident, Delgado holds a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in health policy. For the last 22 years, Delgado has worked in external affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also serves on the board of directors for the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, a Latino cultural center in Chicago. 

Andre Smith 

Andre Smith is the founder of the nonprofit Chicago Against Violence and a perennial candidate in local elections. 

Born in Bronzeville, Smith grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes and attended DuSable High School. After high school, he received technical training in welding from the Job Corps and opened several barber shops on the South Side. He matriculated at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute in 1998, after which he served as a minister at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

Most recently, Smith unsuccessfully challenged state Rep. Kimberly Neely du Buclet (D-5th) for her seat in the March primary election, where he captured 24.4% of the vote.

Anusha Thotakura

Anusha Thotakura is the deputy director of Citizen Action Illinois, a progressive policy and political coalition.

An alum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Harvard Kennedy School, Thotakura has worked for the City of Chicago’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice and has been a campaign manager for state Rep. Nabeela Syed (D-51st). Prior to that, she worked as a middle school math teacher with Teach For America in San Jose, California.

Danielle Wallace

Danielle Wallace is the founder and executive director of Kingdom Avenue Inc., a youth mentorship organization in Englewood. 

A University of Houston alum, Wallace has worked as a mentor, education administrator and at youth advocacy nonprofits. 

Those competing for the District 10 seat are:

Rosita Chatonda 

Rosita Chatonda is a former CPS teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, and is the founder of several education advocacy groups. 

An alum of Roosevelt University, Concordia College and Newburgh Theological Seminary, Chatonda was a math and science teacher in South Side public schools for 25 years. She founded the Chicago Alliance of Urban School Educators, a community group for CPS parents and employees, in 2010, and Teach For the Future Inc., a student and teacher advocacy group, in 2020.  

Rev. Robert Jones

Dr. Robert Jones Jr. is a pastor at Bronzeville’s Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church. 

A Harvard alum, Jones has worked in religious institutions since 1978. He is a member of community organizations such as the Lugenia Burns Hope Center, Black Lives Building Together and Chicago Health Equity Coalition. 

Karin Norington-Reaves

Karin Norington-Reaves is a former CPS teacher and founding CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. 

Raised in Chicago, Norington-Reaves has worked as an elementary school teacher, attorney, English as a Second Language instructor and adjunct law professor. She has held positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. In her most recent role with the workforce partnership, she oversaw agency efforts to connect job seekers with companies. 

In the 2022 primary election to replace longtime Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-1), she captured 14% of the vote.  

Adam Parrott-Sheffer

Adam Parrott-Sheffer is an education consultant and former CPS principal. 

An alum of the University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Parrott-Sheffer previously served as principal at Mary Gage Peterson Elementary, a public school on the city’s North Side. As an education consultant, he provides principals around CPS with leadership coaching.  

Che “Rhymefest” Smith

Che “Rhymefest” Smith is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and nonprofit leader.

Born and raised in Chatham, Smith is best known for his collaborations with Kanye West and John Legend. Outside of the recording industry, he has taught creative writing as a Dartmouth Montgomery Fellow and led seminars on race, culture and music last fall at the University of Chicago as a Pritzker/Axelrod Fellow. In 2011, he founded the community group Art of Culture, an offshoot of the organization Donda’s House. 

That year, Smith was also an aldermanic candidate for the 20th Ward but came up short against Willie Cochran, capturing 45.4% of the vote. 

Smith is endorsed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias; state Reps. Kam Buckner (D-26), Kimberly Neely du Buclet (D-5) and Marcus Evans Jr. (D-33); and Alds. Dowell, David Moore (17th) and Jeanette Taylor (20th). 

James M. Walton

James M. Walton is a former CPS administrator and suburban principal. 

Walton holds degrees from Chicago State University, Loyola University at Chicago and National Louis University, the last of which he obtained his doctorate of education in educational leadership from. He was principal of a middle school and high school in suburban Thornton and Dolton districts from 2011 to 2018, and then spent two years in an administrative position with CPS before retiring. 

Nathaniel Ward 

Nathaniel Ward is the director of community outreach and engagement for City Colleges of Chicago.

A South Shore resident, Ward is an alum of Moraine Valley Community College and Governor State University. He is a former chair of the Dyett High School Local School Council and has served as a commissioner for the suburban Robbins Park District.

Background on candidates courtesty of The Hyde Park Herald

Based on the lineup of candidates, even before the first ballot is cast, it is obvious the board will be splintered between those who maintain experience with the CPS system than the community connections activists bring.

While it is only talk at this point, voters should expect to see a slate of candidates backed by grassroots, semi-professional coalition. However, if they haven’t begun to raise dollars already, the ad hoc group will not be able to rival what CTU is promising.

Community Services Notice

Save the Date — Summer Fling August 3

St. Ignatius College Prep 1076 W. Roosevelt Road

For more information phone 312-973-9718 or WoodlawnProjectOrg@gmail.com