Unusual mix of possible candidates line up for Chicago’s first school board elections this fall

By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — The nation’s third-largest city is preparing for its first school board elections and the slate of potential candidates includes progressive activists, an afterschool squash program leader and a Grammy-winning rapper. The down ballot November race comes after decades of activism and months of legislative squabbles over control of Chicago’s public schools. But the messiest part of Chicago’s newest democratic body is yet to come. The election is complicated, with a temporary hybrid board that’s hard to convey to voters. Special interests are already gearing up. And there are lingering questions about how a 21-member board, triple the current board’s size, will run.