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The Chicago Board of Education is changing. After the city held its first school board elections in history, 10 people elected by their communities will join 11 mayoral appointees to serve for the next two years.
The 21-member hybrid school board will be sworn in Wednesday, Jan. 15 — marking an historic shift in governance as 30 years of mayoral control in Chicago comes to a close.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer, will maintain significant influence for the next two years. Although he advocated for an elected school board alongside his allies at the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson has struggled with the move toward a more independent board as he pushes to transform the school district with the control he still maintains.
On Dec. 16 he announced 10 of his 11 appointments, and last week, told Chalkbeat that his final pick would be made soon.
Here are the people who will serve on the Chicago Board of Education.
Sean Harden, President of the Chicago Board of Education (appointed)
Serves at-large and represents all 77 community areas
Sean Harden, a South Side native, was picked to serve as school board president by Mayor Brandon Johnson in December. Harden worked for the city and Chicago Public Schools in the 2000s, before launching consulting firm, Harden Wright Consultant Group.
Harden worked under former CPS CEO Ron Huberman as deputy CEO of community affairs. Before that, he held a position as executive assistant for former Mayor Richard M. Daley, then moved on to deputy commissioner of human relations.
Harden is also chairman of three nonprofit organizations: Inner Voice, an organization focused on supporting people who are homeless; Friend Health, a health center that serves low-income and uninsured Illinois residents; and the Revolution Institute, which offers assistance with job training and placement for those in marginalized communities.
Ed Bannon, District 1a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Edison Park, Irving Park, Dunning, and Norwood Park
Number of CPS schools: 22
Mayor Brandon Johnson announced on Dec. 16 he would appoint longtime community organizer Ed Bannon to serve the other half of District 1 on the far northwest side of the city. A resident of the Dunning neighborhood, Bannon currently serves on the Dever Elementary Local School Council as a community representative and ran for 38th Ward alderman in 2023 against incumbent Ald. Nick Sposato. His campaign fundraising committee is still active.
Bannon formerly served as the president of the Six Corners Association, according to Block Club Chicago, and organizes an annual family-friendly bike ride, called Tour de Dunning. According to the mayor’s office, he is the parent of three CPS graduates.
Jennifer Custer, District 1b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Montclare, Portage Park, Mayfair
Number of CPS schools: 20
A mom of two with a third on the way, Custer is an educator who worked as a teacher and dean of students in suburban school districts before taking a break to raise her children. A resident of the Montclare neighborhood, Custer will represent subdistrict 1b after winning a two-way race 51% to 49% against Michelle N. Pierre, a former charter school leader, district official, principal, and teacher.
Custer was supported by multiple labor unions and endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, though she has spoken out against the firing of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and short-term borrowing pushed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, an ally of the CTU, to pay for pensions and added contract costs for teachers and principals.
Ebony DeBerry, District 2a (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Rogers Park, West Ridge
Number of CPS schools: 18
In November, Ebony DeBerry won 42% of the vote in a four-way race to represent the far north lakefront on Chicago’s school board. The lifelong Rogers Park resident is the manager of educational initiatives at ONE Northside and a former CPS student, teacher, and parent.
DeBerry was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and shares many of the same progressive views on education policy. On the campaign trail, she said she wants to increase parent involvement, expand after-school programming, and strengthen tutoring and counseling in CPS. She’s also a supporter of Sustainable Community Schools, a model in which schools partner with community organizations to provide wraparound services.
Debby Pope, District 2b (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Andersonville, Edgewater, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood
Number of CPS schools: 19
A retired CPS teacher, Debby Pope formed a campaign fundraising committee last spring, but decided not to run in the crowded District 2 race, telling Chalkbeat she would instead support DeBerry’s candidacy. In late October, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced her as one of his new appointees after the mass resignation of his first group of school board appointees amid tensions with CPS CEO Pedro Martinez.
Pope is a former member of the Chicago Teachers Union and has served in their House of Delegates. According to her bio on the Board of Education website, she is the parent of two CPS alumni and a grandparent of a current CPS kindergartener.
Norma Rios-Sierra, District 3a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Logan Square, Avondale, Kelvyn Park
Number of CPS schools: 23
Rios-Sierra is an artist and cultural events manager with Palenque LSNA, a neighborhood community group serving Logan Square that also works in schools helping provide after school programming and parent mentors.
According to the mayor’s office, Rios-Sierra is a CPS parent. She also runs a stained glass art studio in Logan Square where she teaches classes for kids and adults.
Carlos Rivas Jr., District 3b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Humboldt Park, Hermosa
Number of CPS schools: 32
Born and raised in Humboldt Park, Rivas graduated from Lowell Elementary, his neighborhood school, and Northside College Prep, one of the district’s top selective enrollment high schools. He taught through Teach for America and worked as an alumni counselor for the Noble Network of Charter Schools.
Rivas won a two-way race against another Humboldt Park native with 56% of the vote. He was endorsed by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and was part of the Democrats for Education slate of candidates.
Rivas Jr. currently serves as the director of public affairs for the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability and worked on the city’s response to the influx of migrants arriving from Texas as part of Operation Lone Star. He still lives in Humboldt Park and serves as a transitional foster parent, fostering unaccompanied migrant children who need to be placed in Spanish-speaking households before they are sent to an adult sponsor.
Karen Zaccor, District 4a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Uptown, Buena Park, Lakeview
Number of CPS schools: 15
Karen Zaccor, a longtime community organizer and Uptown resident, is one of the mayor’s appointees to the new school board. She was a CPS teacher for 28 years and most recently taught at Uplift Community High School in Uptown, a school she co-founded, before her recent retirement. She also raised a daughter who graduated from CPS.
Zaccor has used her advocacy efforts to push for an elected school board, establish full-day kindergarten, and stop school closures. She ran unsuccessfully for school board and was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union as well as 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay.
Ellen Rosenfeld, District 4b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Lincoln Park, Lakeview
Number of CPS schools: 18
Ellen Rosenfeld, a former teacher and mother of four, held various education-related roles before running for school board.
Rosenfeld, originally from St. Louis, taught for five years on the city’s South Side. She later joined the Local School Council at Bell Elementary School, where her children attended. For the past seven years, she worked as a family and community engagement specialist at CPS, which involves communicating with families at forums or public meetings.
Rosenfeld has since quit that job in order to serve on the school board.
Rosenfeld beat her five opponents with 41.6% of the vote. She raised the second largest amount of campaign cash in her district, with close to $187,000, as of late October. Rosenfeld was endorsed by state lawmakers Rep. Ann Williams and Sen. Robert Martwick, who were behind legislation to create the elected school board, as well as multiple Chicago alderpeople, Cook County commissioners and U.S. Rep. Jan. Schakowsky. She was was part of the Democrats for Education slate of candidates.
Aaron “Jitu” Brown, District 5a (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Austin, Ukrainian Village, West Town
Number of CPS schools: 38
Aaron “Jitu” Brown, who grew up on the South Side, lives in Austin. His son attends Kenwood Academy High School.
As the only person on the ballot for District 5, Brown won 100% of the vote. He was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and got an early vote of confidence from Mayor Brandon Johnson, who Brown considers a friend. Brown raised about $55,000 in campaign funds.
Brown is a longtime community organizer who, over the past two decades, has advocated for many school-related issues, including creating an elected school board and fighting school closures.
Since the 1990s, Brown said he helped run school youth leadership programs on the South and West sides. He also volunteered for and eventually oversaw the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, a progressive advocacy group focused on several issues, including education.
Brown is the national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance, a progressive coalition of organizations that advocates for improving schools through “community-driven” approaches and is against privatization.
Michilla “Kyla” Blaise, District 5b (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: West Town, West Loop, Garfield Park, North Lawndale
Number of CPS schools: 62
Michilla Blaise, who was appointed to the board in October after the entire previous board resigned, grew up in Chicago and attended Catholic schools. Blaise used to live on the North Side but said she moved with her children — who attend Kenwood Academy High School — to her mother’s apartment building in East Garfield Park.
Blaise launched a career in politics when she went to work for former 46th Ward Ald. Helen Schiller.
She later started her own political consulting firm. She is currently chief of staff for Cook County Board Commissioner Frank Aguilar and is also board secretary for Westside Justice Center, a legal services nonprofit organization.
Blaise ran for school board last year against fellow board member Aaron “Jitu” Brown before dropping out of the race.
Anusha Thotakura, District 6a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Streeterville, River North, Wicker Park
Number of CPS schools: 14
Despite finishing second in the November election, Anusha Thotakura is one of Mayor Johnson’s picks to serve on the school board. As the recently-promoted executive director of Citizen Action/Illinois, Thotakura leads a coalition of progressive organizations advocating on a number of different areas, including education.
Thokatura grew up in Chicago’s northwest suburbs and worked as a middle school math teacher in San Jose, California through Teach for America before returning to Illinois. A resident of River West, she was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union and said on the campaign trail she would be focused on early childhood education, expanding after-school programming, and improving school facilities.
Jessica Biggs, District 6b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, Woodlawn and Hyde Park
Number of CPS schools: 37
Former CPS principal and current CPS parent Jessica Biggs won a three-way competition with 45% of the vote in November. She ran as an independent candidate and raised the least amount of money in her race. Still, Biggs got the endorsement of progressive alderwoman Jeanette Taylor.
Biggs left CPS after serving as principal for six years at Burke Elementary in Washington Park. According to a report by WBEZ in 2018, she was fired for directing staff members to mark students tardy when they would have been marked as absent for half a day. Biggs said her departure from the district should not color her time as a leader in CPS.
During her campaign, Biggs said she would prioritize working with state lawmakers to fully-fund the state’s evidence-based funding formula and work to ensure strong neighborhood schools.
Emma Lozano, District 7a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Little Village, Pilsen, Near West Side
Number of CPS schools: 46
A pastor and long time immigration rights activist, Emma Lozano has fought for sanctuary policies in Chicago and elsewhere. Mayor Brandon Johnson named her last month as one of his picks to serve on the school board and called her a “champion for bilingual education and immigrant rights.”
Yesenia Lopez, District 7b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Gage Park, Brighton Park, McKinley Park, Bridgeport
Number of CPS schools: 33
A former Latino outreach director for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign, Yesenia Lopez now works as an executive assistant for the Illinois Secretary of State. A Gage Park resident, Lopez graduated from Pickard Elementary School and Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen and earned a degree in political science and gender studies from DePaul University.
Lopez won a three-way race to represent the south west side with 56% of the vote. She had the early endorsement of Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a longtime progressive politician in Chicago and one of the first Latinos elected to the City Council. Lopez does not have children, but has volunteered and worked in several schools in her community.
Angel Gutierrez, District 8a (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Garfield Ridge, West Lawn, Marquette Park, Clearing, Midway Airport
Number of CPS schools: 29
A resident of the Garfield Ridge neighborhood, Angel Gutierrez handily won a two-way race in November against Felix Ponce with 63% of the vote. A non-profit consultant, Gutierrez has experience in governance, fundraising, strategic planning, and management. He worked in fundraising roles at Chicago Hope Academy, a Christian high school on the west side, and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
On the campaign trail, Gutierrez said he would advocate for financial stability, school choice, and campus safety. He was endorsed by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and was part of the Democrats for Education slate of candidates.
TBD, District 8b (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Back of the Yards, West Lawn, Bridgeport
Number of CPS schools: 36
The mayor has not yet selected an appointee to serve in this position.
Frank Niles Thomas, District 9a (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Auburn Gresham, Englewood, Canaryville
Number of CPS schools: 47
A Johnson appointee last October, Thomas is a CPS graduate, a U.S. Air Force veteran and the father of four CPS graduates. He led the Department of Streets and Sanitation in the 21st Ward and the local school council for Dunne Elementary, where he also founded a mentoring program.
In coming onto the board, Thomas touted his experience handling contract negotiations and other labor-management issues.
Therese Boyle, District 9b (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Beverly, Morgan Park, Pullman, Roseland
Number of CPS schools: 46
Boyle is a retired educator with 35 years of experience as a CPS school psychologist and teacher. An independent candidate in the school board race, she also ran unsuccessfully to lead the Chicago Teachers Union in 2019. In November, she won a four-way contest with 36% of the vote.
Boyle, a mother of two CPS teachers, has said the district should step up efforts to recruit and retain seasoned educators — and strike a balance in supporting both neighborhood and selective enrollment or magnet schools. She also wants to focus on improving students’ academic achievement and mental health and on balancing the district’s budget.
Che “Rhymefest” Smith, District 10a (elected)
Neighborhoods served: Kenwood, Oakland, Hyde Park, South Shore, Woodlawn
Number of CPS schools: 33
Smith is an award-winning musician, community activist, and former aldermanic candidate. Smith, who largely self-funded his school board bid, has said his priorities are boosting arts, science and mental health programs in CPS, growing partnerships with nonprofits and other local organizations, and weeding out waste in the district’s budget. He won a competitive four-way race in November with 32% of the vote.
Smith, who co-founded a youth outreach nonprofit named Art of Culture, also would like to see more student involvement in district decision-making. Late last year, he spoke out forcefully against Martinez’ firing.
Olga Bautista, District 10b (appointed)
Neighborhoods served: Avalon Park, Altgeld Gardens, Chatham, East Side, Hegewisch, Pullman, South Chicago
Number of CPS schools: 56
Bautista, an environmental activist on Chicago’s Southeast Side, was one of the board members Johnson appointed in October following the previous board’s resignations. The mother of two CPS students and a former aldermanic candidate, she is the co-executive director of Southeast Environmental Task Force. She has also served as a mentor in the youth organization Rebel Bells and as community leadership director for Our City Our Voice, a civic engagement nonprofit.
She has said she is passionate about fully funding the district’s schools and promoting more environmentally friendly school buildings through the Green New Schools initiative.
This story has been updated to clarify Jennifer Custer will represent subdistrict 1b.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.