Election 2026: Who is running for Chicago School Board president?
CHICAGO - Even with many key federal and state offices on the ballot this November, Chicago residents also face a choice of who should govern the direction of the city’s public schools.
For the first time, the entire 21-member Chicago Board of Education will be picked by voters. Previously, the board had fewer members and was at least partly made up of members appointed by the mayor, but state lawmakers passed bills in 2021 and 2024 to lay the groundwork for a fully elected board.
Fox Chicago will host a debate between the four candidates for the Board of Education president on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m., which will be broadcast live on air and streamed online, on the Fox Local app, and the Fox Chicago YouTube channel.
Chicago School Board election
The backstory:
Board of Education members make key policy decisions that affect more than 315,000 Chicago Public Schools students, about three-quarters of whom come from low-income households, according to state data. The board votes on CPS’ nearly $10 billion budget that goes toward funding 626 schools and paying more than 45,000 employees.
They are also in charge of hiring CPS’s superintendent, like earlier this year when they picked Macquline King to lead the district.
The full board will consist of a president, who is elected districtwide, and 20 other members, each representing a "subdistrict" within CPS.
Election Day is Nov. 3, but early voting begins in Illinois as early as this Thursday at local election authorities.
The new term for board members elected this November will begin on Jan. 15, 2027.
The Chicago Public Schools emblem on its headquarters on West Madison Street, July 10, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Who is running for school board president?
What You Should Know:
There are four candidates running to be the next president of the Board of Education. The president is elected at-large, meaning every voter in the CPS district will be able to vote for their preferred presidential candidate in addition to who will represent their subdistrict.
The president is responsible for presiding over board meetings. In the new term, the president can vote like every other member, but has no veto power.
Jessica Biggs
Jessica Biggs
Biggs has worked in the education field for more than two decades, starting as a special education teacher in California. She now serves as a member of the Chicago Board of Education, representing District 6B.
She began her career at CPS as a resident principal at Canter Middle School in Hyde Park, according to her biography. Biggs was later appointed principal at Edmund Burke Elementary School in 2012.
Biggs's campaign said her priorities include expanding access to preschool, eliminating racial and socioeconomic inequities in CPS, increasing the share of district funds that go directly to schools, and securing more state funding by developing a "Springfield strategy with teeth."
Key endorsements: SEIU Illinois State Council, Chicago Federation of Labor, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Alds. Pat Dowell (3rd), Lamont Robinson (4th), Desmon Yancy (5th), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Timmy Knudsen (43rd), Chicago Laborers’ District Council, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134.
Hilario Dominguez
Hilario Dominguez
The Pilsen native and Whitney Young graduate is running with the backing of the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, for which he’s worked as the organization’s political director.
The CTU credits him with leading its 2019 strike, fighting to prevent school closures, and advocating for Mayor Brandon Johnson to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus TIF money to CPS in this year's budget. Johnson has voiced support for Dominguez's campaign for president.
Dominguez began his career as a special education teacher. He’s said his top issues are providing universal preschool, better meals for students, and more access to job and internship opportunities.
Key endorsements: Chicago Teachers Union, Alds. Jessie Fuentes (26th), Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd), Painters District Council 14, Communications Workers of America District 4.
Victor Henderson
Victor Henderson
Henderson is an attorney with children who have gone through CPS. He’s served as an outside ethics officer with the Chicago Housing Authority and counsel to the U.S. House Ethics Committee, according to his campaign biography.
He has argued that the district has not managed its finances responsibly, pointing to CPS’ growing budget and declining enrollment. Henderson has argued for reigning in "unnecessary, politically-driven costs and bloat," though he did not specify what spending he was referring to. He also said CPS must "re-commit itself to providing the kind of wraparound services that keep kids safe and nourished."
Key endorsements: U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, former U.S. Sens. Carol Moseley Braun and Roland Burris, Father Michel Pfleger, mayoral candidate and businessman Willie Wilson.
Sendhil Revuluri
Sendhil Revuluri
Revuluri serves as the vice president of the Chicago Board of Education and was appointed to the board by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019.
The Chicago native served as a teacher in New York, where he co-founded a new public school and has been recognized for his efforts to advance mathematics education, according to his biography. He’s also served on a Local School Council in CPS. Revuluri also works for the entrepreneurial investment firm PEAK6 Capital Management.
His campaign says his priorities are setting clear goals for students’ success, ensuring families understand that the board is doing to "build real trust," and creating "reality-based" budgeting.
Key endorsements: U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Rep. Ro Khana (California).