Angel Gutierrez is running unopposed for his Chicago Board of Education seat representing District 8A—Garfield Ridge, Clearing, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Auburn, Sunnyside, and West Englewood—in the Nov. 3, 2026, election. But the uncontested race masks what he says is the sometimes difficult, invisible work of school board membership.
“This job requires a lot of work,” Gutierrez said. “It’s an unpaid job. I spend probably 20 to 25 hours a week preparing, reading, being in and out of meetings.”
In his 18 months on the board, Gutierrez has learned that much of what matters happens away from the public eye.
Board members take personal time off work to attend meetings and sometimes navigate sensitive issues behind closed doors while building relationships across ideological lines that never surface in formal votes, he said.
Gutierrez cited the board’s handling of a Chicago elementary school teacher’s gesture seen as mocking a prominent political speaker’s assassination as a sensitive topic.
“There are things that happen behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of some of these things,” he said. “[Things] that you don’t see in public in our board meetings.”
Gutierrez describes his approach as “a board member on the balcony”—present and attentive. He will visit schools if invited but does not initiate visits because he respects the line between governance and day-to-day operations, leaving school management to principals and network chiefs, Gutierrez said.
That restraint has not meant passivity. Gutierrez took on local school council issues, an area historically aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union. By working across both sides, he said, “we find common ground.”
He cited cases where the board overturned recommendations and placed people who should have been representing their communities—small decisions that, he said, “have gone a long way, where I think I’ve gained respect on all sides of the aisle.”
The 10 board members elected last year were underdogs, Gutierrez said. Yet they built alliances across business, labor, elected officials, and even aldermen who typically resist using TIF surpluses to supplement Chicago Public Schools.
“A bunch of different groups coalesced,” he said. “Folks knew that we needed them.”
That board disagreed in December 2025 when the it voted to raise the property tax levy by $830 million. Gutierrez voted against it—one of five members to do so.
The five members blocked the vote arguing that approving the tax hike placed an undue burden on working families saying the school district should lower its costs instead.
“Just because we can doesn’t mean we should,” he said. “It just came after everyone had received their taxes.”
He has since pushed for transparency: any future tax increase must come as a separate, public vote so constituents know exactly who raised their taxes.
Looking ahead, Gutierrez’s priorities center on financial stability and structural reform. Debt service now consumes nearly 10 percent of the FY27 budget—money that could go to classrooms, he said.
The board must tackle “disentanglement,” determining what the city should cover versus what CPS should pay now that the board is fully elected, he added.
“The minute that we pass this budget, the next day we begin working on FY28 and 29,” Gutierrez said. “Because we have to get into that habit. Old debt, new debt, however you want to call it, it’s debt. That means that that’s 10% less going into the classrooms.”
Gutierrez wants the board to shift from political division to pragmatic problem-solving.
Real discussions about teaching, learning, and the future of schools have been crowded out by ideology, he said.
“I’m hoping that we have much more pragmatic voices who join, who win, so that we can begin to really have real big discussions around teaching and learning,” Gutierrez said. “The board must also address growing special education costs with no additional funding, retain top district talent, and stem student enrollment losses.”
District 8A, on the southwest side, is unusual in the city because roughly 86 percent of high school students (seniors) stay in neighborhood schools rather than traveling across the city, he said. “Those schools have healthy enrollments and robust academic and extracurricular programs.”
Gutierrez remains excited to continue work on District 8A southwest side schools citing strong students, teachers and staff that make southwest side educational offerings and schools unique; more like north side schools, he said.
“I think it’s been a great learning experience,” Gutierrez said. “We have some incredible schools and some incredible staff district-wide doing some incredible work.”
He also wants to simplify local school council work—a recurring pain point for schools and board members alike.
Gutierrez ran on a platform of serving students, parents, and taxpayers. He said he has stayed true to that promise by building community not just within the board but across District 8A and the city. He works with elected officials to understand constituent needs and direct people to resources.
“I believe in good governance,” he said. “I think I’ve stayed pretty true also to what I said I was running for when I started.”
Running unopposed gives him a second term. Whether the board can move from coalition-building to sustained pragmatism remains an open question—one Gutierrez says will shape whether CPS can stabilize its finances and refocus on classrooms.