Fact-checking campaign claims in Chicago’s school board election

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Like voters across Chicago, Syd Tomlinson has seen lots of different campaign materials for Chicago’s school board election: mailers, YouTube ads, and text messages.

But Tomlinson is “a pretty skeptical media consumer,” especially of political attack ads.

“I don’t necessarily take any of them at face value for what they’re saying or the content of what they’re saying about a candidate,” Tomlinson said.

Earlier this month, we asked readers to send in campaign material so that we could fact-check the items that super PACs and candidates have bankrolled. We reviewed a handful of items to add clarity, context, and in one case, a correction.

The items represent a small sampling of what’s out there.

Some mailers say Jessica Biggs got money from Republicans and wants to close schools. The claims are more complicated.

Mailers paid for by Our Schools Action, a PAC which is heavily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union and is backing Hilario Dominguez for board president, say his opponent Jessica Biggs wants school closures, is fighting for the interests of “billionaire backers,” and has accepted money from Republican donors. One of the mailers shows a black-and-white photo of President Donald Trump.

Let’s take each claim one by one.

First, the Republican donors and Trump. By state law, Chicago’s school board elections are nonpartisan. Biggs describes herself as a progressive Democrat, but it’s true she has accepted campaign contributions from people who have also donated to Republicans in the past. Corli Jay, a spokesperson for Our Schools, identified two people: Paul Finnegan and Meredith Bluhm, both of whom have also donated to many Democrats.

Finnegan’s last donation to a Republican appears to be in 2022 for $2,900 to former Illinois congressional candidate Jesse Reising, according to federal campaign finance records. Bluhm’s last donation to a Republican appears to be for $5,400 in 2015 to former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois. Chalkbeat could not identify links between Biggs and Trump.

Next, the billionaires. Biggs has gotten more than $700,000 from Democratic donor and billionaire Michael Sacks, who is pictured on one of the mailers and whom the Chicago Teachers Union has heavily criticized.

But she also has big donations from others, including SEIU, the union representing some of the lowest paid CPS support workers.

Finally, school closures. Biggs does not support extending a school board-imposed moratorium on closures beyond this academic year. She has also said that closing schools “is the last thing we should want for a community.”

But Biggs also said CPS needs a plan that addresses facilities and enrollment inadequacies, as well as access to enough courses for students, and gathers feedback from people in those neighborhoods.

A digital ad says Hilario Dominguez didn’t pay taxes on a property his family owns. He’s on a payment plan.

A digital ad that debuted last month said Dominguez and his family, who live on the Near West Side bordering Pilsen, owe more than $35,000 in unpaid taxes for a property they own in Pilsen. The ad criticizes him for supporting increasing taxes to pay for schools when he hasn’t paid his own. Common Ground Collective, a newer anti-CTU group heavily funded by Sacks that says it supports “effective progressive policies,” paid for the ad.

Dominguez said in a statement that “like many struggling families,” his family has been on a payment plan for the delinquent taxes since February. The Cook County Treasurer’s Office confirmed it. Records show about $38,000 is owed.

Dominguez said he and his wife own a condo on the Near West Side where they live currently, and the taxes on that property are paid in full, according to county records. He said before they moved to that condo, they lived for some time at the Pilsen address, which his wife inherited from her grandfather.

Common Ground declined to comment on the ad.

A text about Carlos Rivas suggests he doesn’t support raising taxes. But he has before.

An October text message supporting Rivas, an incumbent running in subdistrict 3b, said he opposed the school board taking out a high-interest loan to cover certain costs and that he voted against raising property taxes last December.

“Twice your money was on the table,” said the text message, which was paid for by Urban Center Action, the super PAC for a centrist, pro-school-choice organization that endorsed Rivas. “Twice Carlos voted for your family, not the politicians.”

But the text message doesn’t mention that Rivas, like all school board members, voted to raise property taxes to the legal limit last summer and this summer to help fund the district’s $10 billion budget. The December 2025 tax vote that Rivas opposed was scheduled after the district underestimated what it could legally ask for earlier that year.

In a candidate questionnaire for this year’s election, Rivas said he’s opposed to more tax increases without a better accounting of how the money will be spent.

Juan Rangel, chair of Urban Center Action, highlighted Rivas’ current position on taxes and said the Urban Center’s “position is, moving forward, that the board can’t rely on taxpayers footing the bill.”

Rivas said he had nothing to do with the text message. State law bars candidates from coordinating with super PACs.

An ad says Ellen Sherratt is a CPS parent. She’s not.

Two flyers supporting Sherratt, who is running in subdistrict 4a, described her as a CPS parent. Sherratt has said her two children attend a private school. The campaign for Karen Zaccor, Sheratt’s opponent, issued a press release last week blasting the INCS flyer as misleading.

The PAC for Illinois Network of Charter Schools, a charter advocacy organization, paid for one of the ads, which also misspells her last name. Brighter Futures, a super PAC funded by SEIU Illinois State Council, bought the other. INCS spokesperson Jessica Phillips said the error was corrected on the super PAC’s subsequent campaign material. Anthony Driver, who chairs Brighter Futures and is executive director of SEIU state council, said he wasn’t aware of the error and didn’t comment further.

Sherratt did not pay for or help craft the flyer, which is in line with state law that bars super PACs from coordinating with candidates, and said she had nothing to do with the error.

Isaiah White’s flyers say he’s an experienced CPS teacher. There’s more to know.

A flyer for 28-year-old White, a candidate in district 6a, says he’s an “experienced CPS educator” who has held multiple roles, including helping students who are learning English as a new language.

CPS records obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request show he has been working for the district for just two years. His employee history shows he was hired as a substitute in April 2024 and became a day-to-day Special Education Classroom Assistant, or SECA, this past May. This position puts him into a variety of schools, but does not have him working in one building consistently. The work history records don’t show which specific roles he held.

White said he’s experienced because he’s taught since graduating college, including in Spain before moving to Chicago, and has covered many roles as a CPS substitute, which he argues would help him as a school board member.

A door hanger says Emma Lozano fought against closing Latino schools. That’s true — to an extent.

A door hanger funded by Our Schools PAC says Lozano, an incumbent running in 7a, “helped stop the closure of Latino schools.”

Lozano was one of several board members who were against the Acero charter network’s plan to close seven of its majority Latino schools. But she and a majority of the board later voted to save five of the schools and let two others close after CPS raised legal and financial concerns.

Lozano was absent when the board voted unanimously to revoke CPS’ contract with two majority Latino ASPIRA charter high schools after CPS flagged problems with the network, whose leaders said they could close because of financial problems.

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