Meet The People Running For Chicago’s School Board Election In District 8

Who Is Angel Gutierrez?

After Gutierrez learned that property taxes for his home in Garfield Ridge would be going up by a significant amount, he decided to look into where those taxes were going.

He found that much of the increase in property taxes this past year was due to Chicago Public Schools raising its tax levy by $130.7 million, the maximum allowed under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law, which limits increases to 5 percent.

That’s when he decided to run for school board.

With a master’s degree in public administration from Roosevelt University and 25 years of experience managing the budgets for large nonprofits – including Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Chicago Hope Academy High School – Gutierrez believes he can help CPS create a more balanced budget.

“[The] job is a thousand feet above sea level. It’s not about making decisions at Kennedy High School or DuSable. It is big picture, high-stakes,” he said. “This is about making executive decisions on behalf of your constituents and also the taxpayer.”

Decisions about things like school resource officers, he said, should be left to Local School Councils (LSCs).

On the board, Gutierrez said he would use tactics he learned serving on the community council for the redesign of Manual High School, a low-performing high school in Denver in 2006.

“Let’s create a Blue Ribbon Committee with teachers, students, parents, community, business. Let’s figure out – Where do we need to be in three years? Five years? How do we approach those things? How do we create more options?”

If elected, Gutierrez said he would prioritize school safety and increasing school choice options in District 8, which he notes has no trade, arts, or career pathway schools.

Gutierrez’s campaign had raised more than $25,000 as of Sept. 20, of which $12,500 came from a personal loan. He received $6,900 from Jim Frank, former CEO of Wheels, Inc. and longtime political donor who also supports the political arm of the education nonprofit Stand for Children.

Who Is Felix Ponce?

Ponce, a music teacher and band director at Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, wants to bring a “music perspective” to the table.

Previously, as the director of bands at Back of the Yards College College Prep High School, Ponce built the school’s founding music program, creating a band class, a drumline, a mariachi program, a jazz band, and a colorguard.

“My whole life has been creating music programs,” he said.

Over the past seven years, he has also worked to start and support programs at schools in other parts of the city and has supported students district-wide as the band director for CPS’s All-City Performing Arts Program.

These experiences have shown him how important enrichment programming can be. Sports, arts, and extracurriculars, he said, can help with everything from academic achievement and attendance to mental health and discipline.

Although music is his passion, Ponce says he’s not a one-issue candidate. Working in CPS, he’s seen the effects of staffing shortages and lack of mental health services and support staff.

“A lot of policies [from the Board of Education] were birthed out of great ideas, but they were missing some of that human element, because they were looking at the system as numbers and not necessarily [as] a community,” he said.

Ponce said aims to bring an on-the-ground, in-the-community element to what he hopes is a board with a diversity of perspectives.

If elected, he plans to prioritize funding for arts and sports programs, adequate support staff for every school, and hiring teachers of color.

Ponce is one of 11 candidates endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union. Ponce has also been endorsed by 12th Ward Ald. Julia Ramirez, whose ward is partially covered by District 8.

As of Sept. 22, Ponce’s campaign had brought in about $40,000 dollars, according to campaign finance reports. Of that, at least $35,000 came from the political fund of the Chicago Teachers Union to pay for field staff and other campaign support.

District 8 at a Glance

District 8 is one of the most populous and diverse districts in Chicago, covering parts of the South Loop, McKinley Park, and Back of the Yards. It has 65 CPS schools serving 38,165 students. About 60 percent of residents in the district are Latino, while Latino students make up 72 percent of CPS students in the district.

Key Issues

Some of the issues at play in District 8 are the same as those that Latino students face citywide. In the 2023-24 school year, Latino students made up 50 percent of CPS students with IEPs. Latino students also received the second most in- and out-of-school suspensions in CPS schools.

Conclusion

Both Gutierrez and Ponce are unique candidates with different strengths and experiences. Gutierrez has a background in budget management and policy, while Ponce has a passion for music and education. District 8 voters will have to decide which candidate they believe is best equipped to represent their community on the school board.

FAQs

Q: What are the main issues in District 8?
A: Some of the key issues in District 8 include school safety, staffing shortages, and lack of mental health services and support staff.

Q: Who is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union?
A: Felix Ponce is one of 11 candidates endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.

Q: How much has each candidate raised in campaign funds?
A: As of Sept. 20, Gutierrez had raised more than $25,000, while Ponce had brought in about $40,000, with at least $35,000 coming from the political fund of the Chicago Teachers Union.