Chicago has an unprecedented number of candidates on the ballot for mayor. So what do they all have to say about schools?
A lot.
A January poll showed that school quality ranked higher than corruption, race relations, and police reform as issues that Chicago voters care about most.
But Chicago’s candidates for mayor are divided on which path they’d take to improve the city’s schools. For example, eight told Chalkbeat they’d push for an elected school board, while six would support a “hybrid” school board, which is a mix of elected and appointed representatives.
We asked each candidate to explain his or her position on that question and five more in our voter guide. Since the fall, we’ve also detailed education plans, compared responses on key education issues, and tracked responses at mayoral forums.
Here are other stories that help spotlight where they stand on key education issues:
- Voter guide. To find our voter guide that compares responses from 11 candidates on six key education questions, click here.
- Campaign finance. Here’s how some forces in the education world are spending money on Chicago’s mayoral race.
- School board. To see where candidates stand on the school board question, click here.
- Achievement gap. To read how candidates propose to improve academic outcomes for the district’s black and brown students, click here.
- Education plans. Here are more details about education plans from Susana Mendoza, Paul Vallas, Toni Preckwinkle, Bill Daley, Gery Chico, Lori Lightfoot, Amara Enyia, and more.
- Early education. We attended a forum about how the next mayor would support children under 5 — but not many of the candidates appeared. Here’s what happened.
- Women’s issues. Here’s what mayoral candidates said at a forum sponsored by dozens of prominent women-led organizations about how they’d fix Chicago schools.
- Aldermen and schools. What kind of power do the city’s aldermen wield when it comes to education? We examined that question.
- Forums. See how candidates answered questions when high school students quizzed them and when they talked schools at the HQ of the teachers union.
- In the classroom. How teachers are mining the historic election for their classroom — and beyond.
- Chi.Vote. Do you? Last but not least, the Chi.Vote project is a collaborative effort of 10 independent media organizations. Find candidates bios for mayor, alderman, treasurer, and clerk, plus articles, fundraising totals, and more. Chalkbeat Chicago is a partner.
Chicago’s municipal election is Tuesday. A runoff will be held April 2 for any race in which no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote.