González Wins Chicago School Board District 8b Seat
Juan Ignacio González, a Chicago police detective and coffee shop owner, won the District 8b seat on the Chicago School Board, defeating college student Alexander Angeles. The district covers neighborhoods across the Southwest and South Sides, including New City, Chicago Lawn, Bridgeport and the Loop.
Angeles entered the contest as a write-in candidate in late August. The incumbent, Cydney Wallace, had been removed from the ballot after a challenge to her petition signatures. Wallace had been appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
González, who lives in Back of the Yards, said conversations with parents helped prompt his campaign. They had concerns about students becoming involved in political demonstrations on May 1. Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union ultimately agreed to keep schools open while permitting civic activities. González also cited what he described as academic challenges and a lack of representation for community members outside the political process.
Angeles, a recent Hancock College Prep graduate studying political science at the University of Illinois Chicago, said he wanted students to have a voice in board decisions. González’s campaign received support from groups favoring school choice and opposing the teachers union. His largest reported contributions came from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ political arm and the Urban Center; Angeles had no donations recorded by the final campaign week.
District 8b has nearly 25,000 school-aged children, with close to three-quarters attending public schools. Students enrolled in the district are 68% Latino, 19% Black and 7% white. Last year, 70% of district schools earned the state’s second-highest rating, while 9% received its lowest designation; none earned the top rating.
District 8b Voters Choose Candidate Backed by School-Choice Groups
Juan Ignacio González won the District 8b Chicago School Board race, defeating college student Alexander Angeles. The outcome puts in office a candidate whose supporters favor school choice and oppose the Chicago Teachers Union, in a seat representing neighborhoods across the Southwest and South Sides.
The contest followed the removal of incumbent Cydney Wallace, a Mayor Brandon Johnson appointee, from the ballot after a challenge to her petition signatures. Angeles entered as a write-in candidate in late August and argued that students need a stronger voice in board decisions.
González, a police detective and coffee shop owner from Back of the Yards, said parents’ concerns about students being drawn into May Day politics helped move him to run. Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union agreed to hold classes while permitting civic activities. González also pointed to academic concerns and people who, he said, lack a voice in the political system.
The largest reported sums to his campaign came from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ political arm and the Urban Center. Angeles had no donations on record in the final week. The result gives greater weight to a school-choice-backed campaign in a district where families and students face questions about academic performance and who gets heard in board decisions.
Nearly 25,000 school-aged children live in District 8b, and almost three-quarters attend public schools. Latino students make up 68% of enrolled students, Black students 19% and white students 7%. No district school received the state’s top rating last year; 70% earned the next-highest rating, while 9% received the lowest.
González Wins District 8b After Campaign on Academics and Representation
Juan Ignacio González has won the District 8b seat on the Chicago School Board, defeating write-in candidate Alexander Angeles. A veteran police detective and coffee shop owner, González campaigned after hearing from parents concerned about academic standards and students being caught up in May Day political activity.
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union agreed to hold classes on May 1 while permitting civic activities. González said parents’ concerns reflected challenges he wanted to address, and argued that people outside the political system also need representation. His victory puts those concerns at the center of the district’s school board debate.
Angeles, a recent high school graduate and University of Illinois Chicago political science student, ran to represent students, saying their perspective was missing from the board. The incumbent, Cydney Wallace, had been disqualified from the ballot after a petition-signature challenge. Angeles entered the contest in late August as a write-in contender.
González received backing from organizations that support school choice and oppose the teachers union. His biggest reported campaign contributions came from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ political arm and the Urban Center. Angeles had no donations on record during the final campaign week.
District 8b includes nearly 25,000 school-aged children, most of them in public schools. Its student population is 68% Latino, 19% Black and 7% white. Last year, none of its schools achieved the state’s highest rating, though 70% received the second-highest designation and 9% were rated at the bottom. Those figures underscore the academic challenges González said parents raised with him.
Reported by Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ Chicago.
