Chicago’s first elected school board elected Tuesday, CTU poured millions of dollars into the race

CHICAGO (WLS) — Voting is underway, but history is being made Tuesday as Chicago residents elect 10 school board members for the first time.

“I’m so happy that the union that I get to serve, the coalition that I get to work with, that I’ve had a hand in expanding democracy,” said Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates.

The CTU also has a big hand in trying to elect members. According to campaign finance disclosures, eight of the 10 CTU-backed candidates raised the most money. In addition, CTU and union-backed groups poured nearly $2 million into the races.

MORE: Live updates of election results

“You should be able to just knock on doors and go to forums and make phone calls for school board elections. You shouldn’t have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars as a candidate to make your voice heard,” Davis Gates said.

Because the elected school board law did not include spending limits, Davis Gates said the union had to spend money to compete with millions of pro-school election Super PACs spending against CTU candidates. But the way CTU spent its money angered Illinois state representative Ann Williams.

“I was disappointed to see some of the material published by the Chicago Teachers Union linking certain candidates who were strong independent Democrats to MAGA and Trump 2024, which everyone knows is not the case,” she said.

Williams helped draft the elected school board law. When the bill passed in 2021, she said she didn’t expect the races to result in such speech, nor did she expect the election to come at a time when a school board resigned, was appointed a new one and, most recently, the new school board president resigned due to anti-Semitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial social media posts after 9/11.

Williams said the chaos motivated voters.

“People are talking about it in a way they never did before. They talk about making sure we have stability for our schools, that we vote for people who are independent-minded and will do what’s right for the child. not what is a political agenda,” she said.

Elected school board members will take over in January. It will be a hybrid council, so the mayor still has control. He can elect 11 members, including the chairman.