Two latina candidates in Southwest Side’s District 7b aim to improve special education, protect immigrants

District 7b neighborhoods: Brighton Park, Lower West Side, Archer Heights, Bridgeport, Gage Park, West Elsdon, Armour Square, McKinley Park

Two Latinas with backgrounds in public service are vying to represent a slice of the Southwest Side that has one of the highest shares of schools in Chicago Public Schools with the state’s top two performance designations.

Incumbent Yesenia Lopez was elected to the school board in 2024 with the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union. Without the CTU’s backing this time, she faces a challenge from Erika Diaz-Chavez, a project manager at the Chicago Park District who attended private schools growing up. Diaz-Chavez’s biggest campaign donation has come from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools’ political arm. The Urban Center, which promotes school choice and private schools, has also contributed to her campaign.

Lopez is endorsed and backed financially by the Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council, which represents thousands of CPS support staff and has split politically with the teachers union in recent years. She is also endorsed by Our Schools Chicago. That group’s views are aligned with the CTU and has endorsed all the same candidates plus Lopez.

There are 34 schools in District 7b, 13% of which ranked among the top 10% in Illinois last year. A majority of the schools — 73% — received the second-highest designation, “commendable,” and 13% of the schools were designated as “targeted,” meaning that one or more student groups are at or below the level of all students in the lowest-performing 5% of schools.

District 7b schools serve the highest percentage of Hispanic students in CPS, but a few schools also serve predominantly Asian American students. About 84% of students come from families with low incomes, and around half are English learners.

Both candidates say they want to provide more special education resources for students in response to parents’ concerns. They also want to ensure CPS is doing enough to protect immigrant families amid increased immigration enforcement in the city.

But their views diverge on Sustainable Community Schools, a program favored by the CTU that gives dozens of schools additional funds to partner with community organizations and provide extra services for families.

Diaz-Chavez isn’t sure the model is delivering results and wants to evaluate the program before spending more money on it. Lopez sees the model as a boon to families and supports it, though she agrees the district should track its progress.