Candidate Q&A
Why are you running?
A fully elected Board is a historic chance to give the families most affected by school decisions a real voice in them. I have spent my life fighting for Chicago’s immigrant and working families, and winning. I helped establish bilingual education and led the fight that won undocumented parents the right to vote and serve on Local School Councils. I’m running to bring that experience to District 7A and to fight for fully funded neighborhood schools, protection for immigrant families, and racial equity for Black and Latino students.
Are you in support of the most recent CPS budget that relies on uncommitted state funding?
Yes, with conditions. CPS should aggressively pursue the state funding students are entitled to and use it to protect staffing and services. The Board must also monitor revenue assumptions closely, demand transparency, and make sure the money reaches classrooms.
How will you work with CPS officials and staff to balance the district’s budget?
I will work with them to protect classroom staffing, special education, nurses, counselors, social workers, and bilingual education. I would cut wasteful vendor contracts and strengthen procurement oversight. I would also push for full state Evidence-Based Funding and progressive revenue rather than balancing the budget through closures or service cuts. I support using the property tax levy carefully as one tool, but taxpayers should not carry the burden alone.
Other than the budget, what is the single biggest issue facing Chicago Public Schools?
Protecting immigrant and undocumented students and families. Federal immigration enforcement has spread fear through our neighborhoods and disrupted students' ability to learn. CPS must defend its sanctuary school protections, train all staff on legal protocols, ensure ICE cannot enter schools without a judicial warrant, and connect families to legal and social services.
What is a top issue for students, schools and families in your specific school board voting district?
Immigration enforcement fear is at the top for Pilsen and Little Village families. Also critical are healthy, modern school buildings with clean air, safe water, and lead removal, and strong bilingual education. These are communities that have long been underinvested in.
If you accept campaign contributions from special interest groups, how will you maintain independence from those donors?
My campaign is funded by small grassroots contributions, and I reject donations from charter and privatization interests. I will govern through public meetings, transparent oversight, community review, and student-centered decisions, not donor interests.
How can current board policies and procedures be improved?
Make the Board more transparent and accessible: translate meetings and materials, publish clear performance benchmarks, and strengthen vendor oversight. I support annual equity reviews of district policies and a “Dashboard for Democracy” that gives LSCs simple, real-time financial and academic data. Regional LSC hubs, where veteran members mentor new ones, would also strengthen parent power.
How should CPS and the board work to address declining enrollment?
Invest in neighborhood schools rather than pulling back from them. Families choose schools that are well resourced, so we should expand bilingual programs, arts, and career and technical education, and build Sustainable Community Schools with wraparound health, legal, and family services. Expanding early childhood education and protecting immigrant families from enforcement fear would also help keep families in our neighborhoods.
Do you foresee a need to close some district schools?
No. I support continuing the moratorium on school closings. Closures have disproportionately harmed Black and Latino communities. Under enrollment is best addressed through investment, not closure.
Should CPS implement AI in its classrooms? What, if any, guardrails should be put in place?
Students need real knowledge and skills in AI and other major technologies to be ready for the workforce, but CPS must not deploy AI tools without adequate guardrails. Those include strong student data privacy protections, teacher and staff training before tools are introduced, and public transparency. AI should never be used to justify cutting counselors, social workers, or other frontline staff. I have signed the Pledge to Protect Human-Centered Education, which supports a pause to get those protections in place.
The board currently includes one Honorary Student Member. As the board has recently tripled in size, should that number be expanded?
Yes. Students should be partners in shaping policy, not symbolic participants. I support expanding student representation, alongside formal student advisory councils with real input into decisions.
How will you be responsive to student-led issues?
By giving students a seat at the table and acting on what they tell me. I have seen the power of youth-led organizing through the We Got Us program, run by young people who are connected to CPS as students, graduates, and parents. I will meet regularly with student groups, support formal student advisory councils, and partner with youth organizations.
Did you attend Chicago Public Schools? When/Where?
Yes. Cooper Elementary School and Richard Vocational High School.
Have you sent your children to Chicago Public Schools?
Yes, all of my children attended CPS.
Have you ever served on a Local School Council? When/Where?
Yes. I served as President of the Local School Council at Rudy Lozano School from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.
Have you ever worked for Chicago Public Schools?
No
What neighborhood do you live in?
Pilsen