Ahead of the 2026 election, a review of Chicago school board members’ key votes

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One-third of the candidates running for Chicago’s school board elections this fall have an advantage over their competitors: They’re already in the seat they want to keep.

Sixteen of those incumbents have spent more than 20 months getting to know the mechanics of Chicago Public Schools and the people who run it.

They also have a documented history of how they voted on issues that impact students and staff, including the board’s major responsibilities of adopting a budget, hiring a leader, and setting policy for the city’s some 600 public schools. The 17th incumbent, District 10b candidate Connie Anderson, was appointed in August and has not cast the votes covered here.

There aren’t clear findings that voters consider an incumbent’s past votes when choosing a candidate, typically because they aren’t aware of specific votes unless it received a lot of media attention or was highlighted during election campaigning, said Vladimir Kogan, professor of political science at Ohio State University who has studied education policy.

However, financial issues, such as the board’s divided budget vote this summer, can lead voters to punish or reward an incumbent, Kogan said.

The board voted on a lot more than just the budget since being seated in January 2025. Chalkbeat is revisiting how the incumbents voted, including whether they abstained or were absent, on 17 key issues.

For each item, we’ve linked to our past coverage so you can read more about why board members voted the way they did.

Board members are required to abstain from voting if they have a conflict of interest or an economic stake, such as an investment in an education technology platform. Board members have also abstained for other reasons, often without explaining their decisions in public.

We have excluded new board member Anderson from this analysis since she has not voted on the issues highlighted.

Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.