D\u00f3nes said his life\u2019s work has been all about \u201cempowering parents and working-class families.\u201d D\u00f3nes grew up in Humboldt Park, graduated from Lane Tech High School, and is currently sending his son to Moos Elementary, their neighborhood school.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old is the Moos Elementary Local School Council vice chair and has previously taught and trained teachers in various CPS schools through City Year Chicago and Teach for America. D\u00f3nes worked on CPS\u2019 Instructional Equity Working Group and helped draft Illinois\u2019 first set of culturally responsive teaching standards.<\/p>\n
Since the start of 2023, D\u00f3nes has worked for Beyond 100k, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the STEM teacher shortage with a focus on attracting more teachers of color.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf elected, I would focus on \u2018reversing the systemic disinvestment\u2019 in District 3\u2019s neighborhood schools,\u201d D\u00f3nes said. He also said the district needs to invest in more pre-K options and ensure schools are fully staffed with nurses, case managers, and special education professionals.<\/p>\n
With issues such as book bans filling headlines in recent years, CPS should continue to focus on culturally relevant curriculum, D\u00f3nes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life is steeped in education at this point, I\u2019m not going anywhere,\u201d D\u00f3nes said. \u201cIf I don\u2019t get this board position, this is still my chosen path for impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u00f3nes has raised almost $20,000 for his campaign as of Sept. 13 \u2014 including more than $13,000 from Grassroots PAC, more than $4500 from the Chicago Teachers Union\u2019s political committees, and $600 from state Sen. Graciela Guzman (20th).<\/p>\n
D\u00f3nes has been endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, the Cook County Teachers Union, and the Coalition of Northwest Side Progressives, which includes U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, state Sen. Omar Aquino, state Rep. Will Guzzardi, Cook County Commissioner Anthony Quezada, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez (33rd), Ald. Danuel La Spata (1st), Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), and Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th).<\/p>\n
Read D\u00f3nes’ full questionnaire responses.<\/strong><\/p>\n Carlos Rivas Jr. poses for a portrait in Oz Park on Sept. 11, 2024.<\/p>\n Credit:<\/span> Colin Boyle\/Block Club Chicago<\/span><\/p>\n Rivas Jr. was born and raised in Humboldt Park and graduated from Northside College Prep. He attended Lowell Elementary, his neighborhood school, and continued to help out at the school throughout college.<\/p>\n The 35-year-old did Teach for America and has taught at both CPS schools and UIC College Prep, a charter school. He also got a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Argentina and is vice president of the Fulbright Association\u2019s Chicago Chapter. In preparation for his campaign, Rivas enrolled in the All Chicago Fellowship program, which was created to train potential school board members.<\/p>\n In 2022, Rivas began working for the city\u2019s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, or COPA, as the director of public affairs. However, during his first few months at COPA, Rivas was placed on a special migrant mission. He worked at shelters and greeted the busloads of new arrivals.<\/p>\n Rivas is also a transitional foster parent, fostering unaccompanied migrant children who need to be placed in Spanish-speaking households before they are sent to an adult sponsor. Both of these experiences showed Rivas the importance of not only investing in bilingual programming at school, but also providing long-term support to help newcomer students process the trauma they underwent during their journey to Chicago.<\/p>\n Rivas said he would like to see schools in District 3 operate like community centers.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can offer wraparound services at school, our families won\u2019t have to go to multiple places,\u201d Rivas said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough community centers in Chicago, we don\u2019t have enough safe places where people can do things.\u201d<\/p>\n Schools could have counselors who help families apply for state benefits, access food security resources, and connect with health care services, Rivas said.<\/p>\n Rivas also said he supports investing in both neighborhood schools and select enrollment schools.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies deserve the opportunity to choose the best educational environment for their students,\u201d Rivas said. \u201cThe board needs to fight for adequate resources across the district.\u201d<\/p>\n Rivas raised a little over $11,000 for his campaign as of mid-July \u2014 including $3,000 from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, $1,000 from Lowell Elementary School Principal Gladys Rivera, and $250 each from former Chicago Board of Education President Miguel Del Valle and former Deputy Education Secretary Peter Cunningham.<\/p>\n Rivas does not currently have any endorsements.<\/p>\n Read Rivas\u2019 full questionnaire responses.<\/strong><\/p>\n Both D\u00f3nes and Rivas Jr. believe that the district\u2019s schools should prioritize providing more resources to families, who are socioeconomically and culturally diverse.<\/p>\n D\u00f3nes emphasized the importance of culturally relevant curriculum, while Rivas Jr. suggested that schools should offer a range of programming to meet the diverse needs of students.<\/p>\n D\u00f3nes wants to focus on \u201creversing the systemic disinvestment\u201d in neighborhood schools and investing in more pre-K options, while Rivas Jr. suggests that schools should operate like community centers, offering wraparound services to families.<\/p>\n Q: What are the top issues facing District 3 schools?<\/p>\n A: D\u00f3nes and Rivas Jr. both emphasized the need for more resources and support for families, as well as investing in bilingual programming and providing long-term support for newcomer students.<\/p>\n Q: What is their stance on curriculum?<\/p>\n A: D\u00f3nes emphasized the importance of culturally relevant curriculum, while Rivas Jr. suggested that schools should offer a range of programming to meet the diverse needs of students.<\/p>\n Q: How do they plan to improve schools?<\/p>\n A: D\u00f3nes wants to focus on \u201creversing the systemic disinvestment\u201d in neighborhood schools and investing in more pre-K options, while Rivas Jr. suggests that schools should operate like community centers, offering wraparound services to families.<\/p>\n D\u00f3nes and Rivas Jr. are two strong candidates running in the Chicago School Board election in District 3. Both have unique experiences and perspectives, but share a commitment to prioritizing the needs of families and providing more resources to support student success. As voters prepare to head to the polls, it\u2019s essential to learn more about their platforms and how they plan to improve schools in the district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet The People Running For Chicago\u2019s School Board Election In District 3 Who Is Jason Dones? Jason Dones Credit: Provided\/Victor Powell D\u00f3nes said his life\u2019s work has been all about \u201cempowering parents and working-class families.\u201d D\u00f3nes grew up in Humboldt Park, graduated from Lane Tech High School, and is currently sending his son to Moos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/D3-collage-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1841,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1839\/revisions\/1841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Who Is Carlos Rivas Jr.?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/091124-Chicago-School-Board-Candidate-Portrait-Colin-Boyle-5747.jpg?resize=780%2C519&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nWhat Do They Stand For?<\/h3>\n
What Do They Say About Curriculum?<\/h4>\n
How Do They Plan to Improve Schools?<\/h4>\n
FAQs<\/h5>\n
Conclusion<\/h4>\n