Hi there! Illinois Answers is partnering with other local newsrooms to dig into the battle over who will make decisions about Chicago's 300,000 students. Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
Photo: Candidates running to serve on Chicago's first fully-elected school board line up to file paperwork to get on the ballot.
(Credit: Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times)
Groups on all sides are using nonprofits and Super PACs to skirt campaign contribution limits and hide who's donating money. Here's who's holding onto what:
$10.5 million in PAC accounts
💵 The Illinois Network of Charter Schools had $5.9 million at its disposal in its PAC and related independent expenditure committee account as of last Wednesday.
💵 Political organizations, including major unions and an organization backed by business executive Michael Sacks, had $4.6 million on hand that same day.
Many of these groups are funded by nonprofit organizations that aren't required to report their donors.
A group of major campaign donors, including Sacks and business executive Paul Finnegan, have also together contributed about $250,000 directly to candidates. But millions more remain tied up in secretive political organizations that could be spent later in the campaign.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union is paying for candidates' legal fights, petition gathering and preparing for direct spending. The union is also facing disagreements with CPS' other major union, the Service Employees International Union, and has faced a series of lawsuits and challenges over how it finances elections in recent years
Who's getting the money?
Two-thirds of all the money raised by candidates has gone to the five people running for board president.
You can learn more about the politics behind that spending — and the candidates themselves — in a story we republished earlier this week from our partners at WBEZ and Chalkbeat Chicago. We're collaborating with them and other news organizations as part of a citywide reporting collective.
