By Townhall Chicago News Staff
More than $9 million in campaign spending is flowing into Chicago’s school board races ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, according to a report published Tuesday by the Illinois Answers Project and Chalkbeat Chicago.
The investigation arrives as early voting is already underway across the city. For the first time in decades, Chicago voters will elect the members of the school board, a shift from the mayor-appointed model that governed the district for years.
The report, authored by Andrew Adams and Mila Koumpilova, details where the money is going across both the school board president contest and district-level competitions. The race for school board president has drawn significant public attention, but district-level races are also seeing heavy campaign activity, including what the report describes as a wave of attack ads.
The volume of spending raises questions about the influence of well-funded outside groups on education governance in the nation’s third-largest school district. Chicago Public Schools serves more than 320,000 students across hundreds of schools.
The election marks a historic transition for the district. Illinois lawmakers authorized the shift to an elected school board, and the first partially elected board took office in January 2025. The Nov. 3 vote will seat the first fully elected board.
Campaign finance filings show money flowing from a mix of individual donors, political action committees and independent expenditure groups. The district-level races, which have received less media attention than the board president contest, are seeing an influx of cash that could shape the direction of school policy on issues ranging from budgeting to school closures.
The Illinois Answers Project report also comes amid broader debates about education funding and governance in Chicago. A separate report from the organization examined how tax increment financing, or TIF, surpluses factor into school board candidates’ budget positions, with different candidates offering competing visions for how to account for TIF revenue in the district’s annual budget.
Early voting began Oct. 18 at locations across the city, including the Humboldt Park Library. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Voters can find their polling locations and review candidates through the Chicago Board of Elections website.
Source: Illinois Answers Project
