Chicago school board president candidates outline views on school closures, ratings and how to address Chicago Public Schools’ financial crisis ahead of Election Day.
This story was reported and published in collaboration with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times. Sign up for Chalkbeat’s newsletter at ckbe.at/boletines
With just three weeks until Election Day, the three candidates vying to become the first elected Chicago School Board president sharpened the choices for voters by offering up distinct views on a range of topics, from school ratings to potential school closings to dealing with the school district’s struggling finances, at a forum Wednesday sponsored by WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Chalkbeat Chicago.
And in a surprising show of unity, two of the candidates, Hilario Dominguez y Victor Henderson, accused their opponent Jessica Biggs of resurfacing controversies to harm both their campaigns. She denies the charge.
Here are four takeaways from the forum, which included questions from an audience of students from Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep High School, a Chicago public school in Roseland.
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Blame game on campaign controversies
Each candidate has baggage their opponents have called disqualifying, but on Wednesday, Henderson and Dominguez blamed Biggs for controversies that have followed their campaigns.
Dominguez, former deputy political director for the Chicago Teachers Union, has been in the spotlight after the CPS inspector general reopened an investigation into whether he behaved inappropriately with a 17-year-old in 2017 while working as a community organizer before becoming a teacher. Dominguez denies the allegations and has called them politically motivated.
After the forum taping, WBEZ confirmed that CPS’ inspector general closed the investigation. In a letter to Dominguez, the inspector general’s office said it determined that there is “no actionable finding of sexual misconduct."
Meanwhile, Henderson, a defense attorney, has faced questions about corporal punishment after divorce papers came to light in which his ex-wife accused him of hitting his son. Henderson denies ever abusing his children.
Henderson accused Biggs’ campaign of surfacing the controversies.
“Information has come to me that Jessica Biggs is the person who’s trying to drag both me and Hilario through the mud,” Henderson said.
Biggs, a former CPS principal, denied the charge and said her opponents were trying to deflect difficult questions.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that men who have allegations around sexual harassment, around spousal abuse, domestic violence would choose to blame me for their infractions,” Biggs said. “It’s really disappointing that people can’t just take accountability for their actions.”
Biggs, who was fired from her position as a principal, has faced her own questions about being taken off the district’s “Do Not Hire” list. That came after she won a school board seat two years ago. Biggs has said her firing was unjust.
Different approaches on school closures
A moratorium on school closures expires at the end of this school year, and candidates diverge on how the district should handle schools with few students. Enrollment this year has dropped by 11,500 students to its lowest number in more than two decades.
Dominguez, a former special education teacher, is the only candidate who has committed not to close any schools and wants to extend the moratorium. He contends that closures disproportionately harm Black and brown students, and pointed to research showing that violence increased in areas around shuttered schools.
He favors repurposing space in underutilized schools for mental health clinics, food pantries, and other services. “I understand that there may be red tape and difficulties and obstacles in figuring out how to build these partnerships,” Dominguez said. “But those are the things that we work on as a school board president.”
En el candidate questionnaire, Henderson said he supports school closings as an “extraordinary last resort.” And on Wednesday, he said it doesn’t “necessarily make sense” to keep “all” the buildings open. He said the district can’t be afraid to discuss the matter when the moratorium expires. “That’s why CPS is in such dire shape, because they’ve avoided hard conversations,” he said. “You have to sit with the community, you have to figure it out.”
Biggs was a principal when there were mass closures in 2013 and said the impact was “exceptionally harmful” and long-lasting. She did not rule out closing schools but said the community needs to be involved in the decision-making process.
She said previous closures were made top-down and that if the district considers shutting down or consolidating schools, it needs to first develop a plan alongside the community on what to do with empty buildings.
Dominguez, a former special education teacher, is the only candidate who has committed not to close any schools and wants to extend the moratorium. He contends that closures disproportionately harm Black and brown students, and pointed to research showing that violence increased in areas around shuttered schools.
He favors repurposing space in underutilized schools for mental health clinics, food pantries, and other services. “I understand that there may be red tape and difficulties and obstacles in figuring out how to build these partnerships,” Dominguez said. “But those are the things that we work on as a school board president.”
En el candidate questionnaire, Henderson said he supports school closings as an “extraordinary last resort.” And on Wednesday, he said it doesn’t “necessarily make sense” to keep “all” the buildings open. He said the district can’t be afraid to discuss the matter when the moratorium expires. “That’s why CPS is in such dire shape, because they’ve avoided hard conversations,” he said. “You have to sit with the community, you have to figure it out.”
Biggs was a principal when there were mass closures in 2013 and said the impact was “exceptionally harmful” and long-lasting. She did not rule out closing schools but said the community needs to be involved in the decision-making process.
She said previous closures were made top-down and that if the district considers shutting down or consolidating schools, it needs to first develop a plan alongside the community on what to do with empty buildings.
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In Biggs’ case, Henderson referenced sizable campaign donations from Michael Sacks, a Democratic billionaire who previously advised former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. And for Dominguez, his financial backing by the Chicago Teachers Union, which is almost exclusively financing his campaign, came under fire from Henderson as a potential conflict of interest in deciding future collective bargaining contracts — another responsibility of the board.
“I don’t want anybody pulling my strings like a puppet and telling me what to do,” Henderson said during the forum. “I don’t want any billionaires pulling my strings. I don’t want any powerful unions like the CTU or SEIU pulling my strings.”
Dominguez didn’t shy away from CTU’s support, saying “folks should be proud of having the support of those educators.” Dominguez also took a jab at Henderson, alleging that he had “wore that suit” when he asked for the union’s support earlier in the election cycle.
Taking a less combative approach, Biggs said the various donors to her campaign, which include Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council — a union for CPS support staff — prove her ability to organize a “diverse coalition.”
Makiya Seminera es una reportera que cubre cómo los gobiernos estatal y federal afectan la educación en Chicago y en todo Illinois. Comunícate con Makiya en [email protected]. Emmanuel Camarillo is an education reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times. Contact Emmanuel at [email protected].
