More than $550,000 has poured into historic Chicago school board races

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools. Data analysis by Thomas Wilburn More than six months ahead of Chicago’s historic school board races, candidates are starting to ramp up fundraising — and political action committees are gearing up to spend big. About 40 active school board candidate committees have already raised roughly $555,000 as of March 31 since last October, according to data Chalkbeat analyzed after a deadline this week to file campaign cash disclosures for the first quarter of 2026 with the Illinois State Board of Elections. More than a third of that total represented the haul of Sendhil Revuluri — a former school board vice president running for the at-large role of board president — giving him a commanding fundraising lead so far. Two incumbents also running for board president — Jessica Biggs and Jennifer Custer — raised about $60,000 and $50,000, respectively, in the same period. For the first time in the city’s history, Chicagoans this November will elect all 21 members of the school board, which has long been handpicked by the mayor. In 2024, residents chose 10 members, and Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed the rest, including the president. These latest races come at a high-stakes time for Chicago Public Schools, which faces swelling budget deficits, declining enrollment, and other challenges. The 2024 races drew more than $13 million in campaign cash, an analysis by Chalkbeat Chicago found at the time . With all seats up for grabs, spending on this year’s races is expected to handily outpace that amount, which dwarfed that spent on school board elections in cities such as Denver and Detroit. The last time around, heavy spending clearly helped propel some candidates to their seats on board, whose members serve without pay. But the races also showed the limitation of campaign cash. Some of the candidates with the most modest war chests, such as Biggs, bested much better funded opponents. Of the nine candidates in contested races backed by the Chicago Teachers Union — the biggest spender on those board elections — three made it onto the board. The teachers union is once again poised to clash with charter and other school choice proponents , though these groups are waiting until the candidate field is more complete. Candidates will formally file to run between May 18 and 26. The Illinois Network of Charter Schools had more than $3.2 million in cash on hand as of March 31, by far the largest amount among super PACs expected to get involved in the school board races. Super PACs can spend without limitation on races, but they are not allowed to coordinate directly with candidate campaigns. “We’ll be a very substantial part of the outside spending for sure,” said Andrew Broy, the network’s executive director. “We’ll try to be involved in as many districts as possible.” Now that the state’s primary elections are over, school board candidates are starting to kick off their fundraising in earnest. A $68,000 loan to his own campaign makes Revuluri the biggest donor to school board political committees so far. Trailing him are billionaire Michael Sacks and Allstate Corporation CEO Thomas Wilson, who both late last year donated the legal limit of $7,300 to each in a group of elected school board members who have banded together to parry the influence of a Johnson-aligned majority. Sacks also donated to the Common Ground Collective, a new political action committee led by cabinet members of former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who was pushed out by Johnson . The Sacks donations were previously reported by WBEZ . Broy, the charter network’s head, said its focus for now is identifying candidates aligned with its pro-school choice mission and helping them get on the ballot. The network’s super PAC has drawn large checks from big-pocketed donors such as James Frank, the executive chairman of the board of Wheels Inc. As in 2024, the group will hold off on spending in earnest until closer to the election. But Broy said he expects spending to ramp up earlier this time around. “Incumbents are going to want to get a jump on their opposition,” he said. “They’ll try to get an advantage by striking first.” Broy expects the network will again back several members it funded heavily in 2024, such as Carlos Rivas and Angel Gutierrez. Following heavy spending on primary races, the CTU’s cash on hand is now paltry in comparison, at about $126,000 at the end of March. But it’s poised to get replenished with member dues in the coming months. A spokesperson for the union said the CTU will follow its customary process in which members review candidate questionnaires and other information to determine “who are champions for public schools and who are serving billionaire donors set to close schools.” SEIU Illinois Council PAC, affiliated with the union representing support staff in CPS, made contributions to some elected incumbents late last year. The union has been a close ally of the CTU in previous years, but following disagreements last year might diverge in which candidates it backs. The March primary races dominated political giving so far this year, making it hard to gain fundraising momentum for fall contests, said Custer, the school board member who is running for the districtwide board president role. She said her committee has been able to raise about $25,000 in the past couple of weeks, an amount that’s not reflected in her Board of Elections filing. “It is definitely ramping up now,” she said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time on the phone.” Custer said she is approaching “people prominent in the education spaces in and around Chicago” and circling back with donors to her 2024 campaign, including friends and family members. Custer was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union in 2024 but has clashed repeatedly with the union during her time on the board. “I don’t think they’ll come to me,” she said. Custer said her major campaign expenditure so far has been child care, a permissible expense for candidates for office. Lining up care for her children has allowed her to visit schools, meet with potential supporters, and attend board meetings, she said. With about $236,000 raised so far according to his campaign, Revuluri, who served as school board vice president during the pandemic, has pulled ahead among candidates who have formed committees to run in November. Besides the loan to his campaign, his haul comes almost exclusively from individual contributions from across the country. He said he has tapped his extensive professional network, but the bulk of donations are from Chicagoans who have responded to his message of “effective governance that really puts our students at the center.” He said the current board has been too mired in political struggles, which he believes gives him an edge over incumbent rivals. Revuluri said he is focused on low-cost campaigning, including meeting a goal of speaking with more than 10,000 voters, so he will hold off on most spending until the months leading up to the election. “We have to meet voters where they are — once they have really tuned in,” he said. Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org .

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