Live election results: Chicago School Board

CHICAGO - Members of the Chicago Board of Education make key policy decisions that affect more than 315,000 Chicago Public Schools students, about three-quarters of whom come from low-income households, per state data. 

The board votes on CPS’ nearly $10 billion budget that goes toward funding 626 schools and paying for more than 45,000 employees. Members are also in charge of hiring the district’s superintendent, like earlier this year when they picked Macquline King to lead CPS.

The full board will consist of a president, who is elected districtwide, and 20 other members, each representing a "subdistrict" within CPS.

Polls close across Illinois at 7 p.m. CT, with results expected shortly after.

2026 Chicago School Board Election Results

Illinois Election Results 2026

For full statewide coverage, view our Illinois election results 2026.

About the Chicago School Board elections

This year’s election for the Chicago Board of Education is historic as it’s the first election in which the entire board will be elected.

Previously, the board had fewer members and was at least partly made up of members appointed by the mayor. But then, in 2021 and 2024, state lawmakers passed bills to lay the groundwork for a fully elected board.

That set up a spending spree reaching millions of dollars both in support of and against the top candidates, Biggs and Dominguez.

As of mid-October, more than $6 million was spent on the campaign. Common Ground Collective, a political action committee backed by billionaire Michael Sacks, spent about $2.6 million, including more than $846,000 spent in advertising just this month against Dominguez.

The new term for board members elected this November will begin on Jan. 15, 2027.