Che 'Rhymefest' Smith is no stranger to using his voice.

Famed rapper, and award-winning songwriter, he has used his talents and commitment to community, to serve on Chicago's Elected School Board.

Elected in 2024, he represents District 10A.

For the 2026 election, he's the only candidate in his race on the ballot, though there is a write-in candidate, see Season 1 Episode 1.

In this episode, we discuss:

• his lessons learned
• his north star through all his community endeavors
• His vision for the future of Chicago Public Schools

Find out what district you're in.

On part two of the CPS Board President series, we bring in Jessica Biggs.

She's a current board member.

She's a former classroom teacher and school leader.

She lays out her plan to address the district's financial woes, support of the Black Student Success Plan, and speaks on school closures.

biggs4chicago.com

This is part 1 of the Chicago Elected School Board candidate series.

This episode features Hilario Dominguez, who is running for school board president.

In this espisode, we talk about his vision for the district which includes universal Pre-K, no school closures, ever, and community schools that offer wraparound services to the neighborhoods they are located in.

To learn more about Hilario, head to his website.

University of Chicago Consortium on School Research Attendance and School Climate resource

While the Trump administration seeks to control federal elections, it makes you wonder if your ballot is safe.

To answer this question, I spoke with Ami Gandhi, director of strategic initiatives & Midwest Voting Rights Program at Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.

And Jane Ruby, president of the League of Women Voters Chicago.

Together, we got up to speed on Executive Order 14399, Illinois's expansive voting rights protections, and trusting our electoral systems.

Resources:

• Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE
• ballotready.org

In November 2023, organizers convened and advocated for a Black Student Success Committee.

This would ensure that the forthcoming elected school board would be on the hook for improving Black student academic outcomes.

In this episode, we hear from:

• Valerie Leonard, founder of Nonprofit Utopia, and the Black Student Success Committee member
• Dominique (Dom) McKoy, executive director of the To&Through Project at the University of Chicago
• Grace Asiegbu, freelance journalist who recently published a Block Club Chicago investigation on the Black Student Success progress three years after its passage.

After listening, you'll learn the needs this plan intends to address, how it came to pass, and the plan's goals.

Additional Resources:

• Access the Black Student Success plan here
• Access Grace's article here or here

On episode 3, we're joined by Sarah Karp, senior education reporter at WBEZ.

To get you up to speed ahead of the November 3rd elected school board race, we discussed all things Chicago Public Schools:

• Chronic absenteeism
• CPS Budget woes
• The real work of a CPS Board member

Check out some of Sarah's reporting below

• Funding re-instated for CPS from federal government
• 10 years after CPS school closures
• Chronic absenteeism

Find your CPS district and representatives

Follow Sarah on X

On this week's episode of the Who Sent You? Podcast, we discuss what it takes to be a qualified Chicago Public School board member.
This conversations includes Bridget Lee, founding executive director of the Academy for Local Leadership.
In this interview, she include's the ALL Governance Compass, access here

If you're looking for your board member and your district, find it here

Even with the best intentions, people who want to run for office may not make it.

Illinois has a petition scheme that allows anyone to object to your nominating petition papers.

In this episode, we hear from Andrew Finko, attorney, who discusses the origins of the petition challenges. Then we pivot to Tameka Walton, nonprofit executive director, and candidate for the Chicago School Board 10A district. After two challenges, she was knocked off the ballot and will be a write-in candidate.