Sarah Karp | WBEZ

District leaders will join teachers for a lobbying day in the state capital. Critics say the day away from classrooms is inappropriate.

The move is symbolic because CPS has the final say, but the move offers insight into how a new needs-based approach to distributing money is playing out.

Sin fuentes claras de nuevos ingresos, CPS está redistribuyendo la financiación existente de algunas escuelas a otras, según un análisis de WBEZ y del Chicago Sun-Times y entrevistas con líderes escolares.

Local school councils at several specialty elementary schools in Chicago say they’re facing budget cuts — a claim backed by a WBEZ/Sun-Times analysis.

The teachers union’s contract expires this summer. On top of raises for staff, it wants help for unhoused students and more dual-language education.

Recibieron sus presupuestos escolares para el próximo año, el primero bajo un nuevo sistema que se centra en las necesidades de las escuelas, y no en el número de estudiantes inscritos.

Principals received their school budgets for next year, the first under a new system that focuses on needs of schools, rather than enrollment.

The 10th District, where Che “Rhymefest” Smith is running, spans from Bronzeville through Hyde Park, South Shore and South Chicago to the southern border of the city. His opponent, Adam Parrott-Sheffer, a former principal and education consultant, was one of the first to file paperwork to run for the board.

Much of the public still knows little if anything about this year’s Chicago school board elections. But behind the scenes, candidates and special interest groups are gearing up for this opportunity to shape the city’s education system.