Two out of three Chicago residents do not know that the Chicago Board of Education will become a fully elected body in 2027, according to a poll commissioned by Kids First Chicago, a nonprofit education advocacy organization.
On top of that, just 1 in 10 residents can name their current school board member. Around 2 in 10 parents could name their member.
The results of the poll indicate a striking information gap shortly before the election cycle officially kicks into gear, suggesting a need for more bilingual outreach in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 election.
Candidates can start gathering signatures to get on the ballot in late February.
“There’s clearly some steps we need to take to make sure that folks are aware that the transition is happening,” said Hal Woods, chief of policy at Kids First.
The poll of nearly 1,400 Chicagoans also found that white and older residents were significantly more likely to know the school board will become fully elected. Younger adults and Latinos were the least likely to know about the change. That’s despite Latino children representing the largest demographic in Chicago Public Schools.
Micaelan Valesky Gasperich, data science manager at Kids First, said the poll points to the “need for a straightforward, plain bilingual outreach” campaign on what the board does and its powers.
It’s also important for any campaign geared toward young people and Latinos to take into account where they get their information and how they use social media, Woods said.
Jaime Dominguez, a political science professor at Northwestern University, said the poll results follow other elections trends, with white, older voters the most informed and younger people the least knowledgeable.
Outreach efforts for Latino voters typically begin closer to the election, when they should start much earlier, Dominguez said. That contributes to lower awareness levels.
He noted that many Latinos are from immigrant families whose lives may not allow them to take the time to become informed because they tend to work longer hours.
“Its very hard for them to go out of their way to find information,” Dominguez said. “There has to be this continuous outreach and mobilization efforts with these communities.”
He suggested the city partner up with trusted groups that work in immigrant communities to knock on doors and make phone calls to help raise awareness. Local Spanish TV stations can also spread the word, he said.
The city held its first-ever school board elections last year after a decades-long fight to give voters a direct say in how the district is governed. It was a major shift for a school system that had been under mayoral control for 30 years. The makeup of the board also changed, growing from seven to 21 members.
There were concerns about awareness and participation that year, too, but nearly 80% of submitted ballots included a vote for a school board candidate. Woods said the presidential election year could have contributed to that high participation rate.
Like last year, the races are expected to be a battle among candidates aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union, advocates for charter schools and other forms of school choice, critics of the CTU and independents.