Mayor Johnson ally faces two challengers keen on addressing mounting budget deficits in North Side District 4a Chicago School Board race

District 4a neighborhoods: Lakeview, Uptown, North Center, Edgewater

The race in this North Side district pits a retired educator appointed to the current school board against two challengers who say board members have faltered on fiscal responsibility and setting ambitious goals for Chicago Public Schools.

Karen Zaccor, a longtime Uptown teacher and advocate appointed by the mayor in 2024 after coming in second among six candidates, will face teacher recruitment and retention expert Ellen Sherratt and stem cell researcher Angel Alvarez.

The area along the north lakefront is home to 15 schools, less than almost any other school board district. About 57% of students attend their neighborhood elementary schools — a little higher than the 46% citywide average — but that share is much lower for high school. The district serves a diverse student body; about 35% are Hispanic, 27% are white, almost 24% are Black and nearly 8% are Asian, according to data compiled by Chalkbeat.

Zaccor has voted consistently with a majority bloc of board members appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson or elected with backing from the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson’s former employer and close ally. Her priorities also echo those of the union, which has endorsed Zaccor. They include pushing for a billionaires tax or other progressive state revenue to boost school fundings.

Her opponents Sherratt and Alvarez argue that the district must do more to address mounting deficits than lobby the state.

Sherratt has drawn endorsements from the Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council, which represents support staff and has split politically with the teachers union in recent years, and other groups that oppose the CTU. Those include the Common Ground Collective, an anti-CTU political action committee.

Common Ground and the political arm of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools have spent more than $600,000 on this race, bolstering Sherratt and attacking Zaccor. And Sherratt has raised more than $260,000 individually — the most of all candidates, as of Monday. Alvarez has no outside PAC support.

Sherratt said she would push for setting ambitious student achievement goals.

Alvarez, who leads a family advisory board for the district, said he would champion more responsive special education and protect families from higher property taxes.