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A CPS mum or dad, a personal college mum or dad, and a state authorities employee are vying to characterize households in District 7 on Chicago’s Southwest Facet within the metropolis’s first college board elections in November.
Raquel Don, Yesenia Lopez, and Eva A. Villalobos are on the poll to characterize the sprawling district, which incorporates 79 faculties with 42,471 college students — the biggest enrollment of any college board district.
District 7 consists of Pilsen, Little Village, Brighton Park, Gage Park, and the Close to West Facet. The district additionally spans parts of Bridgeport, Chinatown, McKinley Park, and Archer Heights.
District 7 largely serves Hispanic college students who make up 65% of the coed physique within the district, adopted by Asian American college students at roughly 14%. Nearly 13% of scholars are white and solely a small proportion of scholars are Black at roughly 7%.
The district additionally has the biggest proportion of scholars receiving free and lowered lunches at 81% and the second largest proportion of bilingual college students within the metropolis at almost 44%.
Seven faculties are deemed “Exemplary” by the Illinois State Board of Schooling, which means they rank within the high 10% of colleges throughout the state. Two are magnet faculties. There are three excessive faculties recognized as needing “Intensive Help,” which means they’re among the many lowest performing 5% of colleges within the state.
Don and Villalobos are each former accountants, whereas Lopez works for the Illinois Secretary of State. All attended Southwest Facet faculties rising up.
The trio cite various priorities for District 7 if they’re elected to the varsity board and have completely different views on neighborhood faculties and college selection.
Who’s Raquel Don?
Don, 49, is a CPS mum or dad, former accountant, and Native Faculty Council member for Jones Faculty Prep Excessive Faculty, the place she has served since 2014. She can also be a board member for parent-run nonprofit Buddies of Jones and was additionally an LSC member for James Ward Elementary Faculty in Armour Sq..
Don was not accessible for an interview by press time.
“I wish to proceed the work that I’ve been doing for over 20 years, advocating for all college students’ instructional wants, the essential wants of their tutorial facility, and their security generally,” she mentioned in a Chalkbeat questionnaire.
Don, initially from Chicago, lives in Armour Sq. along with her youngsters and husband Donald Don, who ran for alderman of the eleventh Ward final yr. She graduated from the now-closed Lourdes Excessive Faculty in Bridgeport.
Don’s high three priorities are enhancing achievement, enhancing college buildings and college security, which she considers a very powerful priorities for households when choosing a college for his or her youngsters.
She helps having law enforcement officials officers in faculties, permitting college communities to find out what’s finest for his or her buildings.
Don doesn’t assist shifting away from selective enrollment, magnet and constitution faculties. Faculty selections shouldn’t be eliminated with out first presenting households with a greater choice, she mentioned.
In terms of CPS’ finances, she doesn’t assist yearly elevating the tax levy to fund college operations. The present finances must be analyzed and distribution amongst faculties must be reassessed, she mentioned. Drawing from her expertise as an LSC member, she has seen “how the finances causes chaos in faculties when prioritizing their wants.”
Don’s marketing campaign was self-funded as of Sept. 22. In accordance with marketing campaign finance filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections, she loaned her marketing campaign $2828 on Sept. 3.
Learn Don’s full questionnaire responses.
Who’s Yesenia Lopez?
Lopez, 35, is an govt assistant for the Illinois Secretary of State and served because the Latino outreach director for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s marketing campaign. She is a graduate from DePaul College, the place she studied political science and gender research. She has served in a number of state and federal campaigns, together with State Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who endorsed her run for Chicago’s Board of Schooling.
Lopez lives in Gage Park, the place she additionally grew up. In her early years, she additionally lived in Pilsen. She attended Pickard Elementary Faculty and graduated from Benito Juarez Group Academy in Pilsen. Lopez doesn’t have any youngsters.
“I’m operating for the historic place to empower our college students, households, and neighborhood members who’ve lengthy been underrepresented in instructional choices,” she mentioned.
Lopez has no expertise as an area college council member, however she has attended conferences at faculties the place she is concerned by her work with different organizations, she mentioned. She is on the board of the nonprofit group Telpochcalli Group Schooling Challenge, which works to assist Little Village’s elementary Telpochcalli Faculty. She can also be board secretary for the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Basis.
Her high three priorities are supporting neighborhood faculties, enhancing particular schooling, and enhancing bilingual schooling, she mentioned.
Lopez considers bolstering twin language applications is vital not just for the Hispanic and Asian American inhabitants within the district, however to “make Chicago a competitor within the globalized world,” she mentioned. Twin language applications are important for brand new arrivals and longtime households within the district, as effectively for all college students who will be a part of an “worldwide and extra aggressive” workforce after graduating, she mentioned.
In terms of CPS’ finances, Lopez advocates for “working with finances and monetary consultants and neighborhood stakeholders to discover various funding options.” Funding ought to think about the wants of colleges and the “financial realities” of communities, she mentioned.
Colleges ought to function “neighborhood hubs” the place households and college students can obtain the schooling and companies they want, together with ESL and GED applications for adults, immigration help and different social companies, she mentioned.
“Oftentimes households in our communities, particularly on the Southwest Facet additionally want assist,” she mentioned.
The district’s new funding formulation is “a step in the suitable route,” but CPS must proceed discovering native, state and federal sources of income to “totally make investments” in neighborhood faculties, she mentioned.
Lopez helps prioritizing neighborhood faculties, that are in “determined want of revitalization.”
The COVID-19 pandemic confirmed the necessity for counselors, therapists, social staff, nurses, and household assist companies in faculties, she mentioned. Funding may be used to enhance particular education schemes, as lecturers don’t at all times have the assets and coaching to assist college students with particular wants, she mentioned.
“Our coverage can’t be to desert and neglect them,” she mentioned.
Prioritizing neighborhood faculties is “not a call to finish the range of instructional choices,” she mentioned. Closing constitution faculties just isn’t one in all her proposals, but she intends to uplift neighborhood faculties and guarantee charters and neighborhood faculties are held “to the identical normal and accountability,” she mentioned.
She is the one candidate within the district endorsed by the Chicago Lecturers Union. The union helps candidates subscribing to its platform which incorporates “ending privatization and unionizing all college employees,” based on its web site. Different precedence areas for Lopez, aligned with the union’s platform, embrace remodeling faculties into sustainable neighborhood facilities and addressing neighborhood wants that disrupt schooling.
Lopez has no money available and didn’t obtain any contributions from CTU or different donors as of June 30, based on the Illinois State Board of Elections information.
Learn Lopez’s full questionnaire responses.
Who’s Eva A. Villalobos?
Villalobos is a former accountant and personal college mum or dad of 4 ladies. She turned to personal faculties when she couldn’t discover the psychological well being and tutorial assist her household wanted, particularly for her two adopted daughters, she mentioned. That have led her to run for the Board of Schooling.
“No matter whether or not it’s a conventional public college or constitution faculties, college students are college students, and we shouldn’t be treating them any [differently],” she mentioned.
Villalobos lives in Brighton Park along with her household. She grew up in Again of the Yards and Gage Park. She attended a number of CPS faculties in these neighborhoods alongside along with her six siblings, together with John M. Hamline Elementary in Again of the Yards, Armour Elementary Faculty, and McLellan Elementary Faculty in Bridgeport, and Englewood’s Hope Faculty Prep in Englewood, earlier than graduating from Curie Excessive Faculty.
Her high three priorities are equitable college funding, enhancing psychological well being, and enhancing particular schooling, she mentioned.
Drawing from her monetary background, she proposes prioritizing a full and thorough audit of the finances earlier than contemplating any will increase to taxpayers.
“At a time the place our faculties are dealing with declining enrollment and underperformance, we have to take an in-depth take a look at how the finances is at the moment balanced,” she mentioned.
Villalobos has been a vocal supporter of faculty selection, having used the Put money into Children tax-credit scholarship program to ship her youngsters to personal college. The credit score for her oldest baby allowed her to almost halve the tutoring for her youngsters’ Southwest Facet Catholic college, she advised Chalkbeat final yr. Illinois let the scholarship program lapse on the finish of 2023 and Villalobos mentioned on the time it might possible pressure her to take her youngsters out of personal college.
She is a powerful supporter of fogeys’ voice in schooling and feels there’s a “divisive narrative” relating to pondering neighborhood faculties versus constitution, magnet, and selective enrollment faculties.
Households choose faculties based mostly on their “wants and choices,” and constitution, magnet, and selective enrollment faculties are very a lot a part of the neighborhood, she mentioned.
“One of many explanation why I’m saying we do have to pay attention extra to our mother and father is that they’re those who’re dealing with all these complications and making an attempt to interrupt down all these obstacles to get the assistance for the children,” she mentioned.
Villalobos helps letting faculties resolve whether or not law enforcement officials must be in faculties and offering them with the “autonomy and data” to resolve tips on how to make the varsity atmosphere secure, she mentioned.
Villalobos’ marketing campaign had about $4,600 {dollars} in money as of June 30, based on Illinois State Board of Elections filings. Her marketing campaign acquired $2,500 in contributions from the City Heart PAC, led by former CPS CEO and mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. The group helps candidates and organizations “main a standard sense neighborhood agenda.”
Learn Villalobos’ full questionnaire responses.
Correction: A earlier model of this text misreported that Villalobos acquired a $1,000 donation from public relations specialist and Pilsen neighborhood organizer Andrew Herrera. She acquired a $1,000 contribution from a unique Andrew Herrera.
This story was printed in partnership with Block Membership Chicago.
