Located on the West and Northwest sides, the 3rd District encompasses the Logan Square, Avondale, Belmont Cragin, Humboldt Park and Hermosa neighborhoods. The district also covers parts of Albany Park, Portage Park, Irving Park and Bucktown.
Here’s what to know about the race in the 3rd District. For a look at how the elected school board will work and more on the races in the other districts, click here.
Who’s running?
There are two candidates running in the 3rd District: Carlos A. Rivas Jr., and Jason Dónes.
How much money has been raised?
In the 3rd District, roughly $335,000 has been raised among the two candidates through Oct. 21.
Dónes has collected the lion’s share of the contributions pouring into the race, raking in roughly $276,000. Rivas, meanwhile, has fetched just over $59,000.
What are the candidates’ campaign platforms?
Carlos A. Rivas Jr.
This candidate did not respond to this questionnaire by the time of publishing.
Jason Dónes
What is your background in education?
I am a Puerto Rican Humboldt Park native. I went to a neighborhood school, magnet school, and selective enrollment HS. I have spent the last 14 years serving Black and Brown communities in a variety of educational roles. My son now goes to Moos Elementary, where I am in my 3rd term as an elected Local School Council member and chair. I am a highly involved, respected, and deeply collaborative member of my school community. With my day job, I serve as Chief of People & Operations at an organization dedicated to ending the STEM teacher shortage by improving the school/teaching conditions for Black, Latine and Indigenous communities and educators.
My education leadership journey started as a near-peer mentor in City Year Chicago in the West Garfield Park community. I transitioned to teaching full-time at one of the earliest unionized charter schools . In 2012, my first year teaching, our charter union voted to strike in solidarity with the CTU in an effort to support the cause. Realizing I had more to learn, I searched for pathways to certification and found TFA. I was placed at Talman Elementary in CPS, joined the CTU, took graduate courses, passed content exams and the edTPA, and was proud to finally return to the school system I grew up in. I transitioned to TFA staff, where I served as a coach, Culturally Responsive Teaching specialist, founding Anti-Racism & DEI Council Member, and head of the program. During that time, I also partnered with CPS as a member of the Instructional Equity Working Group and with the Illinois State Board of Education as a founding member of the Diverse & Learner Ready Teacher Network. There, I co-wrote and helped pass the state’s first-ever culturally responsive teaching standards.
Why are you running for a seat on the Chicago Board of Education?
I am running for fully staffed and fully funded neighborhood schools. I am running to nurture and advance the progress we’ve already made. I am running because I am committed to the idea of a community-led education movement. Through my seat, I hope to elevate parent and educator voices and help everyone in my district feel like they have a seat at the table. I am running for my mom who had to work twice as hard to get me to a public school outside of our community in a broken system. I am running for my son and his friends who attend our neighborhood school and, like all of the students and families in this district, ultimately have the most to win or lose as a result of what this elected board is able to accomplish. I am running for elected school board because I am in education for the long haul. I am running to fight deceitful policies that some claim to be ‘fair and pragmatic solutions’ while they hurt communities of color. I am running against further privatization of our public schools. And I am running against the fear-mongering that pits working-class families against each other. I am a former teacher and current parent who is on the ballot thanks to other parents and teachers who believe in me. I am from the community I wish to serve.
Over the course of a 14-year career in education, both locally and nationally, I have led through teacher strikes, coached educators during the height of COVID-19, drafted statewide policy, and led a Local School Council. I understand public education in granular and macro ways. I have experience in a host of collaborations in our education system, and that has put me in the best position to serve the most marginalized families. My passion for strengthening our schools and my vision for a quality school within walking distance of every home keep me in this fight. In my current role, I now have the privilege of serving nationally and have access to school systems and policymakers across the country at a time when the soul of our public school system is at risk. I lead confidently, transparently, and collectively. And, now that the board will be designed to stay accountable to the public, I know I can step up and do the job.
How would you describe your campaign platform?
I would describe my campaign platform as values-forward and grounded in a responsibility to every student in Chicago. I am focused on reinforcing and providing high-quality neighborhood schools because that is the only way we can hope to provide for all families. I am focused on policies that can reverse decades of disinvestment and school closures because I believe all students can achieve if provided agency and access. To do that, we need fully funded support staff, bilingual education resources, trauma and culturally-informed practices, and a system that truly supports students with disabilities and students with special needs. I would describe my platform as a true public school platform where power is given back to the people.
What is the single most important issue facing CPS students?
If I were to sum it up, it would be access. Access to quality, affordable transportation to and from school, adequate support services, high-quality schools near their homes, and necessary resources to support students with a variety of needs, whether they are new arrivals to our city or families looking to have a positive experience obtaining an IEP.
Provide three to four key points you want voters to know about your campaign.
- Equitable Funding Across the District — My first order of business would be to analyze and strengthen the systems we use to allocate the resources that go to neighborhood schools. Nurses, case workers, engineers, teachers, SECAs, qualified admin, adaptive spending, and more are all necessary aspects of this plan. I intend to audit and understand our equity and opportunity metrics. That will enable us to level the playing field and restore confidence in our public education system by working to fully fund our schools.
- Elevating Student, Parent, and Community Voices — I will work to better understand the ways in which students and families are overlooked as the best advocates for quality schooling, and I will center the voices of those most often marginalized and excluded from decision-making bodies. This will be done in the form of student surveys, Local School Council and parent group listening tours, school visits, and faculty meetings.
- To strengthen and support our neighborhood schools — They are essential for working-class families, address local needs directly and provide a critical link to quality education for students within their communities.
- Rejecting Privatization and Reinforcing Public Accountability — Supporting labor rights and ensuring that policymakers stay accountable to those on the ground is essential to a transformative school community. I am committed to rejecting efforts to privatize our schools. Our essential workers deserve respect, support, a living wage, and supportive benefits, as they are the backbone of our education system. That includes instructional staff, like teachers and special education classroom assistants to our lunchroom, security, custodial staff, and more.
To read this candidate’s questionnaire in its entirety, click here.
The candidate’s responses shown here have been edited for length, style and clarity.
