A longtime Pilsen pastor and a Chicago Public Schools graduate half her age are facing off for the District 7a school board seat on Chicago's Southwest Side, agreeing on the need to protect immigrant families and chase new progressive revenue, but splitting hard over whether the district should bank on money the state hasn't actually promised yet.
Incumbent Emma Lozano, who was appointed to the Chicago school board by the mayor in 2024, is a longtime pastor and activist who fought overcrowded schools in Pilsen, according to WBEZ. Her challenger, Jesus Ayala Jr., is a younger contender and Chicago Public Schools graduate who spent six years working for a nonprofit after-school program, the station reports. Both candidates named protecting immigrant communities and securing progressive revenue among their top priorities, per the same outlet's reporting.
District 7a stretches across South Lawndale, the Near West Side, the Lower West Side, Garfield Ridge and Archer Heights, a majority-Latino stretch of the Southwest Side. The students who attend schools there are primarily Latino, matching the surrounding community, and most come from low-income families, with nearly half classified as English learners, the station's report notes. On the district's school count, sources disagree: WBEZ puts the number at 48 public schools, while the Chicago Tribune reports 44. The Tribune separately described the district's population as approximately 67% Hispanic, 14% white, 11% Black and 7% Asian.
A Budget Fight Over Money That Hasn't Arrived
The clearest daylight between the two candidates centers on fiscal strategy. Lozano voted to pass a Chicago Public Schools budget that assumed additional revenue from the state, while Ayala has said relying on unsecured funds is a mistake, per the station's account. That budget assumed the district would receive an additional $150 million in state funding that had not been committed, according to a Chalkbeat voter guide on the race.
Ayala has also made improving student outcomes and ensuring every school has needed staff and resources a stated priority, the Tribune reported. The disagreement over budgeting unfolds against a backdrop of financial strain across the district: rising operational costs have created a significant budget gap for Chicago Public Schools, and closures driven by that gap would disproportionately affect lower-income, mostly Black and Latinx communities, according to The TRiiBE. CPS, now serving nearly 305,000 students, lost more than 11,000 students according to an early headcount for the 2026-27 school year, the outlet reported.
Diverging Money Trails and Union Loyalties
Money and endorsements split along familiar lines. Lozano is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, while Ayala has the backing of charter school advocates, groups that oppose the CTU and the Service Employees International Union Illinois State Council, which represents thousands of CPS support staff, per the station's reporting. Ayala has outraised Lozano, drawing his largest campaign donations from the political action committees of SEIU and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, while Lozano's biggest donations have come from Our Schools PAC, a CTU-affiliated group.
The Chicago Sun-Times lists additional Ayala endorsers including the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association, Common Ground Collective, INCS Action PAC, LEE PAC and The Urban Center. The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board also threw its weight behind Ayala, writing in an endorsement republished by Yahoo News, “We endorse Jesus Ayala Jr.” That same editorial noted more than a third of Chicago's public schools are half-empty or worse, with CPS enrollment now barely above 300,000, down from more than 400,000 thirteen years earlier.
A Ballot Fight That Delayed Ayala's First Run
This isn't Ayala's first attempt at the seat. He tried to run in the 2024 election, but his name was removed from the ballot after a successful challenge to the signatures on his nomination paperwork, according to WBEZ's reporting. That setback has given this year's rematch added weight for his campaign.
The District 7a contest also sits inside a far larger financial battle playing out across Chicago's school board races. Spending on those races skyrocketed past $9 million in the campaign's final stretch, according to Chalkbeat, with independent expenditures alone totaling more than $6.7 million, including over $2.6 million spent on advertising since the start of October. Much of that spending reflects a broader rift between labor groups once seen as close allies: the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU are now competing for influence on the board, a dynamic playing out directly in District 7a's dueling endorsements.
Academic Snapshot of a Struggling District
On the academic front, District 7a schools posted mixed results last year. Sixty-four percent received the state's second-highest designation, “commendable,” while 4.5% received an “intensive” designation, WBEZ reported. That intensive label applies to schools that remained among the state's bottom 5% of low-income schools for four years after receiving comprehensive support, or that continued to post a graduation rate of 67% or below.
