Jason Dónes, 36, is running to represent the 3rd District in the upcoming school board elections this November. The race brings a transitional period in Chicago politics, marking the first time that there will be a hybrid school board comprised of 21 members: 11 appointed by the Mayor and 10 elected by the people of each district.
Chicagoans will vote for their school board members come November, which begs the question; Who is running to represent Humboldt Park?
Jason Dónes is running to represent all of the 3rd District in the school board elections. This includes his neighborhood of Humboldt Park, where he was born and raised, as well as a plethora of other neighborhoods.
“That includes everywhere from Humboldt Park to Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, pieces of Albany Park, Belmont Gardens, Logan Square. It’s a pretty big district… it incorporates most of–or all of the 26th Ward, 35th Ward, 31st Ward and then a ton of others so it’s very big and very diverse, but it includes my home neighborhood of Humboldt Park.” Dónes said during an interview.
The 3rd District encompasses much of the North West Side of the city and many different neighborhoods that Dónes is passionate about. He taught humanities at the former Chicago Talent Development High School, a charter school on the city’s near West Side.
There he taught humanities to a student body predominantly consisting of Black students with a small Puerto Rican population. At the school, he fostered a sense of care and community for his students working with them individually and getting a sense of how to support students with the highest needs.
Afterward, he worked at Talman Elementary School on the South Side in a predominantly Mexican community. Middle school presented several challenges for Dónes, he struggled with finding the line between affirming students and also holding them to academic expectations.
When reflecting on his time at Talman, Dónes reminisces on how funny his students were, something he remembers fondly.
“The thing I was best at…was connecting with students and listening to students. I want to carry that energy into what it means to be a school board member.” Dónes said when asked about his plans to take the lessons he learned as a teacher and apply them to the School Board if elected.
One of Dónes’ policy points listed on his campaign website is “Improving Academic Achievement.” He plans to expand bilingual education, implement restorative justice practices in the classroom, and ensure that schools have resources to meet community needs. Included in these is a commitment to the well-being of students by providing sufficient mental health resources and trauma-informed care.
These points hit close to home for Dónes. They are policies informed by his experience as a teacher and seeing what does and does not work in school.
Dónes recounts a “click” that happened once he let students bring their relevant backgrounds into the classroom. For him, the educational system does not always make room for students of marginalized racial and ethnic identities, particularly for students of color and those with disabilities.
When making space for their experiences in the classroom, he saw a shift occur. “I saw, you know, a click in them. Particularly my seventh and eighth graders–like–saw what it looks like for them to believe that school is a place where they belong.” Dónes said.
After his time as a teacher, Dónes began working for Teach for America Chicago implementing policy and program work. For eight years he worked with schools across the city varying from public to charter and well-funded to under-resourced.
At each school, he focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training that sought to create culturally competent leaders in schools or working on directly coaching staff. A big part of Dónes’ campaign focuses on meeting the needs of students who face the most challenges. A large part of his work at Teach for America was to help equip teachers and staff to meet those needs.
Recently there has been controversy surrounding the school board after Mayor Brandon Johnson asked for the resignation of C.E.O. of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Pedro Martínez over disputes on how to fund CPS schools.
Martínez wants to refinance CPS debt along with administrative and operational savings to make up for the budget shortfall of nearly $300 million while Mayor Johnson instead wants to take out a high-interest short-term loan to bridge the CPS gap. The resulting dispute has caused the previous members of the school board to resign followed by an interim school board appointed by Mayor Johnson.
Despite the controversy regarding what Martinez’s or Johnson’s plans may result in for CPS students, receiving funds for CPS is a top priority for many Chicagoans.
Dónes does not blame anyone for trying to receive funding for CPS, however, he has concerns about the impact of a short-term high-interest loan.
When asked about his policy point on funding “Equitable School Funding”, Dónes responded by saying, “One thing is making the pot bigger… We’re not in compliance with our state’s own funding formula… our state would agree that we are not a fully funded district, and yet we have not gotten all we need, all the support we need from the state legislature.”
Dónes continued to explain that there needs to be an organized front alongside parents and organizers to receive funding from the state legislature alongside reviewing how CPS is using funds.
“… policies I would employ to make sure that we’re being rigorous and auditing the way that we are spending. How much of it goes directly to students, how much spending is caught up in inefficient vendor contracts, or just other things that I’ve seen leading in an org(anization)’s budget,” Dónes said.
Residents of the 3rd district will be voting come November 5th during the general election. Dónes will be running against Carols Rivas Jr. For information on early voting and where to find polling places, visit the Cook County Website using the following link: https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/voting-locations.