Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
I am running to make public education as public as possible. On the board, I will work to reimagine the CPS budget, center teaching and learning, champion holistic student success, and foster meaningful community partnerships throughout Chicago. I am running for Chicago’s future. I am running against attacks on and moves to dismantle public education. I will bring my experiences — which mirror those of the majority of CPS students and families — and expertise — I have a PhD in Education —to center students in all my collaborative decision-making on the board.
Are you in support of the most recent CPS budget that relies on uncommitted state funding?
No; the school board has a legal responsibility to pass a balanced budget. I do not support the most recent CPS Budget amendment that relies on uncommitted state funding.
How will you work with CPS officials and staff to balance the district’s budget?
I will reimagine the CPS budget by focusing on good governance and ensuring we pass a balanced budget. I will do this by focusing on outcomes-based accountability for vendor and corporate contracts through a full audit, so that every dollar spent benefits our students and meets their diverse needs. I will protect student-focused spending (e.g., special education services, emerging bilingual learners), look for new revenue from progressive sources (e.g. Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) programs), and advocate for increased state and federal revenues taxes. Balancing the budget will take every one of us advocating at every level to secure the full funding our students deserve.
Other than the budget, what is the single biggest issue facing Chicago Public Schools?
The single biggest issue facing Chicago Public Schools is the district’s teaching and curriculum needs — the building blocks of student learning. In an analysis by Adam Parrott-Sheffer in Board Rule, less than 6.4% of Chicago Board of Education public meeting time was spent on student learning in SY2025-2026. This analysis is alarming, given that every decision a board member makes should center student learning. As a board member, I will work to ensure evidence guides our policy decisions to address the district’s rates of chronic absenteeism and low reading and math proficiency. As a board member, I will ensure dedicated time for student learning by passing a collaborative resolution that holds the board accountable for requiring that every public meeting addresses student learning.
What is a top issue for students, schools and families in your specific school board voting district?
When I speak with voters in my district, the top issue that comes to mind is equity in funding and trust between parents and the school district. Many schools in my district have lost critical staffing positions essential to students' overall success and learning. In some instances, schools have an abundance of staff, such as two or more case managers, while other schools do not. This inequality cannot stand, and I will remain accountable to the students and families in 6A who deserve to expect a rigorous, joyful learning experience at all schools.
There are also families in 6A who have chosen not to send their children to CPS and instead send them to private or parochial schools. Parents are sending their children to these schools because of a lack of trust in CPS’s ability to provide a robust and meaningful education to their children. I will continue to work to make our schools the choice that 6A families are proud to engage with.
If you accept campaign contributions from special interest groups, how will you maintain independence from those donors?
No outside or special interest groups, unions, or millionaire donors have backed my campaign. I am proud to run an independent campaign focused on ensuring every decision I make on the board centers on and is accountable to students.
How can current board policies and procedures be improved?
Board policies should focus on equity and good governance. The school board’s role and legal responsibility is to govern the district, including passing a balanced budget, hiring and evaluating the district’s Superintendent, approving contracts, and making major policy decisions such as what students learn. The board can improve current policies and procedures by centering every decision on student learning and well-being, respecting the decision-making power of local school councils (and providing robust LSC training), listening to community voices, using research and evidence to guide policy decisions, ensuring the district’s financial stability, and being transparent.
How should CPS and the board work to address declining enrollment?
Declining enrollment trends are deeply intertwined with housing, workforce development, and economic policies across the city. So, the school district should continue investing in neighborhoods that have experienced the steepest declines. CPS should also work to build trust with families who send their children to private or parochial schools by making schools more attractive and providing resources for supports that focus on rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning environments for students. Additionally, CPS must support the creation and expansion of critical services that are attractive to families, such as universal pre-K3 and after-school programming, and I am committed to building a CPS that attracts and retains families in a system of thriving schools in thriving neighborhoods.
Do you foresee a need to close some district schools?
Economists and education scholars have shown that closing schools does not save the district money. Instead, closing schools causes deep community harm, increases gun violence across neighborhoods, creates educational deserts, and costs the district more long-term in repairs and upkeep. Schools serve as anchors for communities, and I reject the binaries that often drive conversations about school closures. Instead, I will work to ensure that these conversations center the educational self-determination of the students and communities most impacted by closures, by providing actual tools (participatory avenues for community benefit agreements that are legally binding) and affording power to students, families, and communities to play a central role in deciding for themselves what their community needs. Instead of focusing on the absence of schools, how can a community decide what is present in their communities as a result of investment rather than divestment?
Should CPS implement AI in its classrooms? What, if any, guardrails should be put in place?
CPS should not implement artificial generative intelligence in its classrooms to replace instructional time between teachers and students. A growing body of research highlights artificial generative intelligence’s negative impact on classroom learning, including recent research showing how AI use stifles brain development and interferes with learning processes. As a board, we should work collaboratively with state legislators to pass a moratorium on the use of AI in the classroom, which similar urban school districts to CPS, such as NYC and Los Angeles Unified, have already done. During the moratorium, CPS should convene educational experts who study AI’s impact on learning to inform guardrails and a human-centered policy on the technology’s potential use.
The board currently includes one Honorary Student Member. As the board has recently tripled in size, should that number be expanded?
Yes, and the student members should have actual voting power.
How will you be responsive to student-led issues?
I will respond to student-led issues by continuing to build trust based relationships across my district. With my regular community engagement, I will hear the issues that are most salient and provide transparent reasonings behind my decision making on the board.
Did you attend Chicago Public Schools? When/Where?
I did not attend Chicago Public Schools. I attended Toledo Public Schools, including neighborhood schools that were consolidated and closed, as well as a charter school that was closed. In Toledo, Ohio, I attended Scott High School and St. Ursula Academy (briefly, while I was in foster care). I graduated from Cleveland High School in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Have you sent your children to Chicago Public Schools?
I do not have children. But if I did, I would send them to Chicago Public Schools.
Have you ever served on a Local School Council? When/Where?
N/A
Have you ever worked for Chicago Public Schools?
N/A
What neighborhood do you live in?
Streeterville