Legislators target outside billionaire donations amid concerns over local influence
CHICAGO – Illinois lawmakers, community leaders, and parents united outside the Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS) office on Monday, raising oversized checks symbolizing massive out-of-state donations to Chicago’s school board elections. Their message was clear: campaign finance reform is crucial to preserving local influence and preventing outside billionaires from shaping Chicago’s education policies.
For years, Illinois legislators have pushed for an elected school board in Chicago, but there were lingering issues. “There were many things that were sort of left on the table,” remarked State Senator Robert Martwick, emphasizing the need to revisit and refine current campaign finance policies to protect Chicago’s election integrity. Martwick, calling for legislative hearings, expressed that it is the duty of lawmakers “to fine-tune this to make sure that the people of Chicago get what they bargained for and that the process is not corrupted by outside donors.”