Former CPS principal and current school board member Jessica Biggs declared victory Tuesday, beating out two opponents after a heated campaign to become the first-ever elected president of the Chicago School Board. She won 49% of the vote, with 94% of the precincts reporting, according to results from the Associated Press.
Chicago Teachers Union-backed Hilario Dominguez trailed Biggs with almost 31% of the vote, and attorney Victor Henderson had 17%.
Dominguez had not conceded Tuesday night but Biggs addressed her supporters as the school board president-elect. She vowed to focus on improving student learning and to build a coalition with state partners to get more money for Chicago Public Schools, as well as protecting students from “attacks” from President Donald Trump.
“The road ahead will not be easy, the challenges facing our district are enormous, from our finances to our enrollment to the trust that we need to rebuild with families,” Biggs said. “But our resolve is just as big. Tonight Chicago showed exactly how much the city is willing to fight for its children.”
Biggs thanked the “broad coalition” she said she was able to bring together, and acknowledged her “large and small donors.” Her victory, Biggs said, represented a victory for the residents of Chicago who now have a say in the direction of the district.
“For too long decisions about our schools have been made in the back rooms of city hall, and families have been left to live with the consequences, but tonight that changes,” Biggs said. “I will never forget who I work for.
Though trailing by a sizable margin, Dominguez did not concede while speaking to dozens of supporters at CTU headquarters on the Near West Side.
He criticized billionaire Michael Sacks for pouring money into the race. Dominguez said his campaign didn’t have “the biggest checkbook” or “billionaires writing million dollar checks” but instead featured regular families.
“The people of Chicago are not for sale,” Dominguez implored. “Our children are not for sale.”
This election was never the finish line, he continued.
“It was one moment in one longer fight,” Dominguez said. “But I also want everyone who fought alongside us to understand this. We’re ain’t going nowhere.”
Henderson also didn’t concede because as a lawyer, he is “into dotting i's and crossing t’s,” Henderson told his supporters at a Near West Side restaurant. “I thank each and every one of you for being here, for supporting me.”
Biggs is now tasked with taking over this powerful, but unpaid position, and working with 20 other members to set a vision and goals for CPS for the next four years. She will represent the board publicly, run the board’s monthly meetings and help set the agenda for a body that oversees a roughly $10 billion annual budget.
A vast majority of the money that flooded the school board election has focused on the race given the president’s influence. Of the more than $8.3 million raised directly by the candidates, $5.2 million has been collected in the president’s race, including by two candidates who withdrew. Biggs raised nearly $1.9 million, Dominguez $1.7 million and Henderson about $700,000 — nearly all of that money he loaned himself.
When spending by super PACs, which can’t coordinate with candidates, is factored in, $13.9 million has been spent supporting or opposing candidates, according to an analysis by the Sun-Times and WBEZ. This includes $3.5 million to oppose Dominguez by groups that don’t want the CTU’s candidate to lead the board. PACs funded by the CTU have spent just $577,000 in support of his campaign.
One of Biggs' first tasks when she takes over as board president in January — and the board she will lead — could be dealing with a significant budget shortfall. This year’s budget is counting on lawmakers in Springfield to come up with extra funding during a veto session later this month. The governor threw cold water on the idea last week even as some legislative leaders have previously been encouraging.
Biggs ran as a leader who could build consensus among a broad coalition. Her supporters included the progressive Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents mostly low-wage Black and Latino CPS workers. But she has also taken $1 million from Sacks, who has been in the crosshairs of Mayor Brandon Johnson and the CTU. Biggs also had support from the business community and former government officials who worked under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Dominguez was the CTU’s choice, hoping he can lead the way as the powerful union attempts to maintain majority control of the board. Dominguez is the union’s former deputy political director. He is on leave from the union and his job as a CPS special education teacher.
He ran on a progressive platform that included expanding preschool to all 3-year-olds and expanding the services that schools provide to include health clinics and grocery stores. He demands more money from the state and is against cutting in the district to balance the budget.
Henderson centered his campaign on advancing student achievement and fiscal responsibility. Though he has no experience as an educator, Henderson fashioned himself as an outsider with a fresh perspective on issues like the budget and charter funding.
But his lack of education experience also led to critiques from opponents who questioned if he has the know-how to tackle matters that impact classrooms.
The three candidates all said they could convince state lawmakers to give more money to CPS, which remains chronically underfunded. Over the summer the board passed a revised budget that assumed an additional $150 million in funds not yet committed from the state to stave off cuts that would have affected classrooms. Board members who supported the move vowed to pressure lawmakers to come up with the money this fall.
But Gov. JB Pritzker said last month that there haven’t been discussions among lawmakers about coughing up cash for the district.
“I am not certain that mid-year we'll be able to do something that will meet only one school district's needs,” Pritzker said.
The $150 million in assumed state money was cut down to $110 million after Mayor Brandon Johnson released his budget plan in October. The plan includes $286 million in tax increment financing dollars earmarked for CPS. But there is also no guarantee that full amount will materialize.
If the district doesn’t get more funding from the city or state it may be forced to cut spending midyear or borrow.
But even after getting through this year’s budget issues Biggs, as the new president, will have to tackle the district’s long-term financial troubles, as well as other issues, such as the district’s dwindling enrollment.
CPS needs $1.9 billion more from the state to provide an adequate education, according to the state’s funding formula, and the district is moving further away from adequacy. CPS now only has 70% of what it needs to reach adequate funding, down from 73% last year and 79% the year before.
At the same time the district is educating fewer children. CPS enrollment declined by 11,500 students this year to 304,700, the lowest number in more than two decades. The dip continues a downward slide that’s been occurring over the last 20 years. It’s led to renewed conversations about school closures.
All the candidates are coming off a bruising campaign that became heated in the final stretch as each dealt with controversies. Voters were bombarded by negative ads highlighting the issues online and over the airways.
Biggs dealt with questions about her actions as principal and whether she engaged in a quid pro quo with CPS CEO/Supt. Macquline King to get off the district’s do-not-hire list, which she vehemently denies.
Henderson confronted questions about allegations during his divorce proceedings 15 years ago. Dominguez faced allegations about his behavior with a teenager nearly a decade ago. The CPS inspector general’s office has since closed an investigation into those allegations and determined there was insufficient evidence that Dominguez engaged in misconduct.
Contributing: Lisa Kurian Philip, Kristen Schorsch and Araceli Gomez-Aldana
