Chicago City School Board, District 1B

GOLDEN SHRUG

The Dish: Astute readers of this Guide may remember Michelle Pierre, now back for her second bite at the scholastic apple, from our repudiation of her candidacy in the 2024 election when she was narrowly defeated by erstwhile Board President candidate Jennifer Custer. The Far Northwest Side Subdistrict 1B is home to some of Chicago's most conservative political territory, including parts or all of Wards 30, 31, 33, 36, 38, 39, and 45 but has also recently become a battleground. Progressives represent every part of this territory in the General Assembly, and serve as the majority of the Committeepeople, leaving many in City politics to list this Subdistrict race as a preview for several dramatic Aldermanic races this winter. Facing off against Pierre for the progressives in this proof-of-concept race is community organizer, CPS parent, and Delia Ramirez District Director Claudia Peralta.

For her part, Michelle Pierre doesn’t seem to have changed much from her first run beyond slapping a somewhat-fresh, slightly more identitarian coat of paint on her messaging. Wayback Machine archives from Pierre’s first run still exist, and provide a stark contrast to her messaging today. Pierre’s platform now attempts to obfuscate her explicitly-pro-charter message from two years ago, but rest assured, dear reader, the privatizer lingo is still there, lurking beneath the surface. And despite Pierre touting her (admittedly impressive) resume of 30+ years in public education, a quick look at the candidate’s LinkedIn reveals that Pierre’s experience is almost entirely in charter schools and related nonprofits, with her last non-charter experience coming in Cleveland over 8 years ago. Absolutely nothing about this candidacy does anything to convince me that she is any different from the “champion of school choice” that ran two years ago. 

Thankfully, progressives in this Subdistrict have a much better option in Claudia Peralta, who is not only experienced and rooted in her community, but is pitching a comprehensive, progressive vision for the Subdistrict in her platform. Claudia commits to fighting for the most vulnerable students in CPS, particularly disabled (who are long screwed over by poor CPS policy implementation), immigrant, unhoused, LGBTQ+, and otherwise disadvantaged students by expanding mental health resources, ensuring the District keeps its IEP commitments, and expanding bilingual and dual-language education. But that’s far from all; Claudia also promises increased transparency about District business, including empowering LSCs and creating Subdistrict parent and student councils, as well as actually visiting the schools in 1B (a novel idea, we know). And she’s pairing those specific policy commitments with more general progressive School Board priorities, like fighting for more funding from Springfield, implementing public metric tracking and increasing Board business transparency, and fighting for strong AI policies and proper implementation on tech restrictions in classrooms. Most of all, though, Claudia is trustworthy. She’s a known quantity in this part of the City, and has a strong track record of public and government service at multiple levels. Claudia has built her career on making promises and keeping them, and 1B residents know that she’s the realest of deals. 

Claudia is also backed by a full slate of this Guide’s favorite people, including Congressbae Delia Ramirez (GS22), Alderfaves Ruth Cruz and Rossana Rodriguez, County Commissioner Jessica Vasquez (GS26), State Senators Graciela Guzman (GS22), Omar Aquino, Rob Martwick, and Ram Villivalam, State Rep Lindsey LaPointe, and 45th Ward Committeeman Michael Rabbitt. Electeds not enough, perhaps? Not to fear, dear reader, because Claudia also has the consensus support of CTU and SEIU (the sign of a true independent), CCCTU, United Northwest Side, Northside DFA, and 33rd Ward Working Families. She’s a true coalition candidate, and no matter who on the Left you may be annoyed with, she’s backed by true progressives that I guarantee you’ve never been mad at a day in your life. That’s just how good Claudia is! 

Pierre, on the other hand, is backed by the shadiest of the shady. Not only does she count horrible Alders like Jim Gardiner, Nick Sposato, Gil Villegas, Samantha Nugent, and Felix Cardona among her supporters, she’s also endorsed the FOP, by Sacks-spawned Common Ground Collective, fraudster-led Urban Center, and privatization-oriented INCS, and TFA-linked Leaders for Educational Equity alongside a $1000 donation from a person with a 15+ year history of being a Republican, which is some of the only actual cash that she’s raised. Dear reader, that’s a big ol’ P-U on Pierre from me. 

Dear Far Northwest Side reader, the choice here is clear. Claudia Peralta is experienced. She’s rooted in CPS and in her community. She’s a proven leader, a policy expert, and a no-holds-barred fighter. Claudia deserves your vote, and she deserves the Golden Shrug we’re giving her, too. Let’s send her to the School Board and expand the progressive map.