This North Side district covers parts of neighborhoods like Lakeview, Edgewater, Uptown and North Center.
Karen Zaccor, a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher, lost in 2024 to Ellen Rosenfield, who represents District 4B and is unopposed in this election. Chicago Teachers Union-backed Zaccor, 70, then was appointed to the board by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
She is running against Ellen Sherratt, a 47-year-old consultant on teacher recruitment and retention, who is endorsed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Common Ground Collective, an organization opposing CTU and Johnson and financed in large part by the chief executive officer of GCM Grosvenor, Michael Sacks.
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Also running is Northwestern University stem-cell researcher Angel Alvarez, 46, who has been an advocate within CPS for better serving students with disabilities.
In her time on the board, Zaccor has been a strong voice for more funding from Springfield and voted for the unbalanced budget a few months ago. Sherratt has years of direct experience in attracting and nurturing teacher and principal talent, having worked previously for the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. As to finances, she tells us, “CPS needs to get its own house in order, and it needs Springfield to pay its fair share.” She said she will “treat lawmakers as partners to persuade” and that “families deserve the truth about tradeoffs, and I will give it to them.
Alvarez offers some good ideas for CPS. But we believe Sherratt is the better bet to unseat Zaccor, and we endorse Ellen Sherratt.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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