Who the Chicago Teachers Union backs for Chicago Board of Education races
The Chicago Teachers Union officially endorsed 11 candidates for Chicago’s upcoming Board of Education races. The remaining 11 spots will be appointed by former CTU organizer and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The Chicago Teachers Union officially endorsed 11 candidates in Chicago’s first elected school board races, announcing plans to spend at least $1 million to put their allies in office.
Here is the list of endorsed candidates running in each elected school board district:
District 1
- Jennifer Custer, a CPS parent and former teacher, union leader, and school administrator.
District 2
- Ebony DeBerry, director of educational initiatives at ONE Northside, former CPS teacher, parent, and Local School Council member
District 3
- Jason Dónes, chief of people operations at non-profit Beyond 100K, former teacher and leader at Teach for America
District 4
- Karen Zaccor, a teacher at Uplift High School and former LSC member
District 5
- Jitu Brown, a community organizer with Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and director of the Journey for Justice Alliance
District 6
- Anusha Thotakura, a deputy director at Citizen Action/Illinois
- Brenda I. Delgado, vice president of Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, former CPS parent, and former LSC member
District 7
- Yesenia López, a Latino outreach director with Gov J.B. Pritzker’s campaign
District 8
- Felix Ponce, a CPS music teacher and professional trombonist
District 9
- Lanetta Thomas, a community activist
District 10
- Rev. Robert Jones, a pastor at Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church
All of these candidates oppose school choice for low-income families, even though CTU President Stacey Davis Gates and nearly 4-in-10 Chicago public school teachers send at least one of their kids to private school.
The union-backed candidates are vying for 10 of the 21 seats on Chicago’s new elected school board, with the remainder being appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.