Candidates backed by the Chicago Teachers Union won six of 21 seats in the Chicago school board election and were leading in four more, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The union’s candidates still lost the board presidency to Jessica Biggs, even though the CTU was outspent by a margin of 4-to-1.
The CTU-backed board president candidate, Hilario Dominguez, lost to Biggs. Candidates not backed by the union won nine of the remaining 10 seats, and a non-CTU candidate led in another race that was too close to call, the Sun-Times reported.
The Sun-Times reported that Michael Sacks alone put more than $8 million into the races. It said he put $6.8 million into the Common Ground Collective over the past two months.
Biggs does not have the two-thirds majority needed to overturn resolutions that may pass at the December board meeting, when sitting members cast their final votes. Newly elected members will be seated on Jan. 15.
The current board is half appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and is aligned with the CTU. It could approve a moratorium on school closings and limit the incoming board’s future cuts. In July, CTU-backed members approved a budget that counts on $150 million in uncommitted state revenue. The state legislature has not approved that money, and Chicago Public Schools faces a $732 million deficit.
Many experts say Sacks saw the race as a proxy for the February mayoral race, in which Sacks and business backers support Alexi Giannoulias against Johnson.
The state legislature returns to Springfield next week for its veto session. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates says the union will push for the $150 million there.
This account relies on a single outlet, the Chicago Sun-Times, and its text appears cut off mid-article. Several races were leading or too close to call, so final seat totals are unconfirmed. Neither Biggs, Sacks, the Common Ground Collective, the CTU nor Mayor Johnson’s office has responded to requests for comment, and the size of the budget gap beyond the $732 million figure is unclear.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.