District 9b neighborhoods: Roseland, West Pullman, Morgan Park, Beverly, Mount Greenwood, Washington Heights
Incumbent Therese Boyle, a retired Chicago Public Schools psychologist, was re-elected to represent the Far Southwest Side on the Chicago School Board.
She easily defeated her Chicago Teachers Union-backed challenger Katherine Dunneback. Boyle won nearly 73% of the vote with 87% of the precincts counted, according to results from the Associated Press early Wednesday morning.
Boyle was first elected two years ago and was endorsed by groups that oppose the powerful Chicago Teachers Union.
Boyle spent 35 years working for the district, while Dunneback is a former CPS mom and speech-language pathologist currently working as an adjunct clinical professor at Saint Xavier University. They competed to represent an area with 46 public schools, most of which are neighborhood schools, with few privately run charters and lottery-based magnets.
Boyle was endorsed by groups that oppose the teachers union and support school choice, and she was also backed by the Service Employees International Union, which represents thousands of CPS support staff and has split politically with the teachers union in recent years. Dunneback was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
Boyle credits her longtime roots in tight-knit Mount Greenwood, where she’s lived for nearly 40 years, for helping her win over voters.
“The people who talked to the voters were my friends and family and neighbors and fellow colleagues,” Boyle said. “I think that helped.”
Having the support of SEIU, whose members helped knock on doors, helped, too, Boyle said.
Dunneback had not called to concede, Boyle said Tuesday night. Dunneback could not immediately be reached for comment.
Enrollment is an issue across much of the district, with just 13% of CPS students choosing to attend their zoned public high schools, according to data compiled by Chalkbeat. Nearly 57% chose their local elementary school. The majority of students in this school board district are Black, while 10% are Hispanic and 11% are white. The majority of schools in the area were designated last year as “commendable,” the state’s second highest ranking.
Both Dunneback and Boyle had children attend Chicago Public Schools for a time before going to private schools. Boyle said one of her daughters attended a Beverly public school for preschool. Dunneback’s children attended a Morgan Park neighborhood elementary school.
Boyle said residents are focused on making sure the district is “spending money wisely,” while Dunneback said her neighbors are concerned about school overcrowding and closures.
The two candidates agreed on academics, including imposing strict limits on AI and electronic devices, but disagreed on charter schools and school closures. Boyle favors charter schools and school consolidation when equitable and cost effective. Dunneback opposes charter schools and spoke of expanding a CPS and CTU program that turns neighborhood schools into community hubs as an alternative to closures.
Neither candidate wants to raise property taxes to the maximum to fund schools, according to our CPS School Board questionnaire. But Boyle says CPS is not spending wisely, whereas Dunneback says board members should work with other elected officials to fund schools through other tax policies.
Boyle received contributions from the SEIU IL Council political action committee and the Common Ground Collective, a PAC that is anti-CTU and heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks. Dunneback’s top contributions were from the CTU-affiliated Our Schools PAC and CTU PAC.
Contributing: Jim Lynch of Block Club Chicago
