Live 2024 Chicago School Board Election Results

CHICAGO – Chicago holds his first school board elections Tuesday marks an important step as the city transitions from a mayor-appointed school board to one elected by voters.

Results will be released after polls close at 7 p.m

FULL RESULTS | WATCH LIVE | ELECTION 2024

America’s third-largest city has long been an outlier with a mayor-appointed board providing oversight Chicago Public Schoolsand it took years of advocacy and legislative disputes to get to this point.

In 2021, a new law was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker has phased out a seven-member board of mayoral appointees for a 21-member hybrid government until 2027, when a fully elected board takes office.

The shift starts with Tuesday’s elections, with ten elected members and eleven mayors, including the chairman of the board. Two years later, voters will have a say in all 21 races. The board chairman would be elected at large, while 20 others would represent districts drawn by lawmakers.

Questions still arise about how the new administration, which is three times the current one, will govern.

The multi-year transition has been full of conflict. Mayor Brandon Johnson An entirely new board was appointed in October after all seven members resigned amid an escalating battle for control of CPS.

Johnson has tried to oust the district’s CEO, Pedro Martinez, who was appointed to the position by then-Mayor Johnson in 2021. Lori Lightfoot. Johnson, a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer, has clashed with Martinez, including over how best to close holes in the district’s nearly $10 billion budget. Martinez has refused to resign, citing the need for stability in the district.

Many of Tuesday’s candidates are parents, advocates and former teachers making their first forays into politics and facing a steep learning curve with little name recognition or money.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.