Equity, Special Education and Representation: The First CPS School Board Election

Equitable allocation of resources, special education and representation are on the minds of Ebony DeBerry, Kate Doyle, Maggie Cullerton Hooper and Bruce Leon who are all candidates running to fill the District 2 seat on the Chicago Public Schools school board Nov. 5.

This is the first time the public will be able to vote for representatives on the CPS school board, according to a city of Chicago press release. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation directing the implementation of an elected school board for CPS in 2021.

The candidates will appear on the election ballot for those voting based on Illinois residency. The deadline to return a ballot in person is 7 p.m. Nov. 5 and the winner will be selected once all votes are counted.

The Lake Shore Campus falls within District 2, which encompasses Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Peterson Park, Andersonville, Edgewater, West Ridge and Rogers Park.

Ebony DeBerry

A former CPS student, DeBerry attended Gale Elementary and Sullivan High, later becoming a teacher in the district. She is a board member and recruiter for Grow Your Own Teachers, an organization which supports racially diverse individuals who have a desire to become teachers in their own communities.

In an interview with The Phoenix, DeBerry said one objective included in her platform focuses on increasing minority enrollment and faculty in CPS schools.

The student population is 47.3% Latinx and 34.2% Black, according to CPS demographics for the 2024-2025 school year. DeBerry’s “Issues” webpage includes an aim to increase the number of Black and Latine faculty.

“This district is majority Black and brown,” DeBerry said. “Children can’t become what they don’t see in front of them.”

DeBerry said she supports equity and increased funding in schools. The CPS Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal to the Board of Education called for moving the district away from a student-based funding model and towards a needs-based one. However, CPS faces deficits and must reimburse the city, according to page 12 of the city’s 2025 Budget Forecast.

“Some amazing schools in the city have been thriving for decades, others have been starved of resources for just as long,” DeBerry said. “We want to make sure every school can prepare a child for their future.”

DeBerry’s endorsements include several Chicago aldermen and congresswoman Delia Ramirez.

Any inquiries can be directed toward DeBerry’s campaign site.

Kate Doyle

Formerly a special education teacher and the CEO of KindWork, a non-profit which provides low-income youth with tech education, Doyle said her policy proposals include elevating student achievement in technical education. Doyle is a mother of a young son entering early-learning in CPS.

Career and Technical Education programs offer students the resources to learn skills specific to a career they may want to pursue after high school or post-secondary education, according to CPS. 

No school listed on the 2024-2025 CTE matrix offers every named course to its students. The matrix is a data sheet of all CTE courses offered at CPS high schools. Between two schools from District 2, Sullivan and Senn High School, only three CTE classes are available to students.

Out of the 33 courses included in the CTE roster, Sullivan offers only two, The Entrepreneurship pathway under the Business endorsement and the Health Science pathway under the Health Sciences endorsement. Senn offers only Health Science.

“We should start with having strong CTE coursework available in early grades,” Doyle said.  “I want to ensure access to any technical education is equitably distributed.”

Any inquiries can be directed toward Doyle’s campaign site.

Maggie Cullerton Hooper

Among other areas of interest, Cullerton Hooper is an activist for people with disabilities and victims of gender-based violence. She currently serves as a Senior Consultant for the Alliance for Black Equality PAC and has two children enrolled at a neighborhood school in Albany Park, where she has served on the local school council for eight years. 

Cullerton Hooper said her priorities include recognition of the complexities of education for students with disabilities and community engagement.

In 2018, CPS handed control of special education over to an independent monitor after it was found the district had violated federal law, The Associated Press reported.

“A system functioning the way it functions regardless of the people inside of it becomes about avoiding litigation,” Cullerton Hooper said. “People with disabilities do not have deficits, the world does. It is the responsibility of CPS to compensate for the children in order for them to learn.”

Any inquiries can be directed toward Cullerton Hooper’s campaign site.

Bruce Leon

Leon is a small business owner and philanthropist who believes in the power of local governance independent of city hall. Leon’s family has resided in Chicago for five generations, according to his campaign site.

His endorsements include local government representatives like Comptroller Susanna Mendoza and several aldermen, according to his endorsements webpage. He was also endorsed by The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Republican Party.

Leon didn’t respond to requests for an interview.