Funding Surges in Chicago's First School Board Race
Chicago's first-ever school board elections are attracting significant funding and attention. The shift in governance could grant schools more autonomy in contracting with external service providers, creating potential partnership opportunities for executive function coaches.
- The transition to a fully elected 21-member school board will be complete in November 2026, with all seats up for election. This follows the initial hybrid model where 10 members were elected in 2024 and 11 were appointed by the mayor. - Spending in the 2026 race is expected to significantly exceed the more than $13 million spent during the 2024 election, which was for only 10 of the 21 seats. The 2026 election will also feature a citywide campaign for the at-large board president, a factor not present in the 2024 district-only races. - In the 2024 election, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and its affiliates were the biggest spenders, contributing a combined $4.3 million to their endorsed candidates. Pro-school choice political action committees, including those for the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and Urban Center, jointly spent about $3.5 million. - National donors played a significant role in the 2024 election, with prominent billionaires contributing to pro-school choice groups. These included Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and an heir to the Walmart fortune, Jim Walton. - The law governing the elected school board in Chicago does not currently have campaign contribution limits, which allowed for the significant spending in the 2024 race. - The upcoming election is set against the backdrop of significant financial challenges for Chicago Public Schools, which is projecting a half-billion-dollar budget deficit for the next fiscal year. - Candidates for the 2026 election can begin collecting petition signatures on February 24, 2026, and must file them between May 18 and May 26, 2026, to get on the November ballot.
