District 6b neighborhoods: Greater Grand Crossing, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Near South Side, the Loop, Douglas, Woodlawn, Englewood, Fuller Park, Hyde Park
Lawyer and Chicago Public Schools mom Brittany Kimble has prevailed in a school board district that stretches from downtown to the South Side, beating out longtime pastor Michael Neal in a race between two newcomer candidates, according to Associated Press election results.
Kimble, who grew up in towns throughout Illinois and now sends her daughter to a CPS school, had 63% of the votes to Neal’s 37% with 90% of precincts reporting, according to Associated Press election results.
Neither Kimble nor Neal was backed by the Chicago Teachers Union or the Service Employees International Union, the two largest unions representing school workers. Rather, Kimble came out on top in a battle of candidates backed by groups that are often at odds with the CTU and the mayor’s office.
Kimble’s campaign was endorsed by The Urban Center, a centrist political organization that advocates for school choice across public and private schools. She received some contributions from the group but insisted The Urban Center has asked nothing of her. She also received a contribution from the political action committee affiliated with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
In an interview late Tuesday, Kimble said the Urban Center’s support made a great difference in her campaign by introducing her to others who ended up endorsing her.
“I probably wouldn’t have even made it on the ballot if it weren’t for Urban Center’s support,” Kimble said.
Beyond that key endorsement, Kimble said she had been consistently canvassing and present at community events.
“I was dedicated and out there meeting the voters,” she said. “I was out there (in the district) passing out cards since June.”
When she gets sworn in January, Kimble said her priority is making sure CPS students have stability amid an uncertain budget — especially in the South Side district she will represent.
“If we don’t have the budget, then there’s going to be a lot of teachers laid off. We have to maintain stability more than ever in district 6b,” Kimble said. “I think my district is going to get hit first if teachers have to be laid off.”
Kimble thanked all the voters who showed up for her, her family and Neal for running a clean race.
“We focused on the issues and not each other,” she said. “I thank him (Neal) for his graciousness.”
Neal was endorsed by Common Ground Collective, a new anti-CTU political action committee that is heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks and says it aims to engage voters around “effective progressive policies.” Neal did not report any campaign donations.
District 6b includes 37 schools and has experienced some of the city’s biggest enrollment declines, while others closer to Downtown have enrolled more students in the last decade. A little over half of kids in the district attend CPS schools, according to data compiled by Chalkbeat Chicago.
Black students are overrepresented (88%) compared to District 6b’s overall Black population (64%). Meanwhile, white families are underrepresented. Less than 1% of the student population is white in a school board district that is 20% white. Families’ concerns range from wanting quality, well-resourced public schools in all neighborhoods to feeling welcome on their children’s campuses, according to the candidates.
Contributing: Reema Amin, Chalkbeat Chicago