CPS School Board: The race in the North Side's 2nd District

The crowded race for Chicago’s school board seat representing the North Side’s 2nd District has turned into the most expensive one citywide.

Four candidates are vying to win election in the district that encompasses Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Peterson Park, Budlong Woods and Andersonville, along with the Far North Side communities of Edgewater, Rogers Park and West Ridge. The district is perhaps the city’s most racially diverse and mixes some wealthy neighborhoods with more working class and immigrant populations.

Election Day is Nov. 5.

In other districts, there’s a straightforward battle between the teachers union and opposition groups. In the 2nd District, the number of candidates makes the race a bit more complicated.

Ebony DeBerry, 47, is a community organizer and former Chicago Public Schools teacher who was raised in Rogers Park. She’s supported by the Chicago Teachers Union and affiliated progressive groups.

Margaret “Maggie” Cullerton Hooper, 43, is a senior consultant with the Alliance for Black Equality political action committee. Cullerton Hooper has been endorsed by some labor unions. Her father is retired former Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.

Kate Doyle, 35, leads a nonprofit that supports low-income young adults with free career training and job placement. Endorsed by a smattering of smaller groups, Doyle has billed herself as the independent progressive option.

Bruce Leon, 62, recently sold a human resources company he founded. He’s backed by Urban Center Action and the Illinois Policy PAC — more conservative groups that support school choice, oppose the CTU and are largely backed by wealthy business leaders and some billionaires.

DeBerry, Cullerton Hooper and Doyle are more closely aligned than Leon — but their views still differ in some significant ways.

DeBerry and Doyle support requiring all schools to select from a certain curriculum authorized by the school board, while Cullerton Hooper and Leon don’t. Cullerton Hooper is the only candidate who thinks the school board should continue to raise the property tax levy to the maximum allowed by state law each year to secure more funding.

Leon is the only one who supports closing low-enrollment schools. None want to close or abandon charter schools — even if some don’t want more to open.

On Mayor Brandon Johnson’s vision to prioritize neighborhood schools and shift away from school choice, Doyle thinks neighborhood schools should receive more funding but not at the expense of selective and magnet programs that “have a history of producing successful graduates and should be a point of pride,” she said.

In response to a Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ/Chalkbeat questionnaire about that plan, Leon wrote that “selective schools and charter schools raise the tide for everyone.

“Equality by cutting down your high performers vs. trying to raise your below average schools is bad policy,” he said.

DeBerry said she fully supports the change to the school system’s funding formula that helps schools “where the individual needs of children were high and not being met.” Culteron Hooper said she wants to see public engagement as part of the process.

In this high-dollar race, candidates amassed $1.1 million as of a week before Election Day, with more coming in by the day.

Leon has self-funded his entire campaign to the tune of $550,000 through four loans from his personal wealth, the latest being a $250,000 loan on Oct. 23.

Doyle has raised $118,000 mostly through direct campaign contributions from individuals. That includes a $35,000 loan from Doyle.

Three-quarters of DeBerry’s $84,000 in contributions have come from the CTU’s political funds. She’s also received massive backing from the union and its affiliate political action committees — $144,000 worth of it — through in-kind contributions, which are goods or services provided to a campaign by someone else.

Cullerton Hooper’s $190,000 in campaign cash has also come mostly from individuals — some of them politically connected — and unions. Her father’s campaign fund has put $75,000 toward her election bid, the majority of it this month. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot gave Cullerton Hooper’s campaign $250 in September.

In response to a question about how candidates would maintain their independence from the mayor’s office, the CTU or other powerful groups or individuals, DeBerry said “the answer is easy.

“I am going to follow the will of parents and relationships that I have here on the North Side of Chicago — the parents, teachers and administrators that I interact with daily are the experts on their situations,” she said. “Our students should also have [a] voice in what’s happening with them, and I am accountable to my constituents and them alone.”

Cullerton Hooper said she hasn’t received backing from the CTU or “the powerful PACs lobbying for private, outside interests,” so she’s only accountable to CPS families.

“I have zero interest in building a political career at the cost of our children’s education,” she said.

Leon also said “that’s easy” because he’s self-funding his campaign and has fought the CTU before.

Doyle argued “independence is of paramount importance to my candidacy,” and that the 2nd District needs a progressive who isn’t “beholden” to any interests.

“We deserve a representative who is inclusive, accessible and responsive to all community members,” she said. “Sometimes this will mean working alongside the Chicago Teachers Union and the mayor; at other times the board will have to chart its own path to best serve our city’s schools.”

So how would the candidates approach the ongoing dispute between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez?

None felt CPS should take out a short-term, high-interest loan like the mayor has pushed for to close a budget deficit. All said CPS should pick up at least part of a disputed $175 million pension payment.

Should Martinez keep his job?

In a recent Chalkbeat Chicago candidate forum, Cullerton Hooper said “yes, right now.” And Leon said “emphatic yes,” adding that “this has been handled … almost like a banana republic.”

Doyle said she’d keep him for stability’s sake.

“There’s room for improvement, but my assessment is he’s doing a good job overall,” Doyle said.

DeBerry said she didn’t have enough information to answer.

“Through working with schools and principals in my day job, I know that principals have been preparing for the shortfall for months, and it's really hard to distinguish in leadership across the board, who dropped the ball and is not preparing for this moment,” she said. “And so I say I don't know enough, because I think there's a lot of shared responsibility.”