Chicago school board presidential candidate Hilario Dominguez touts experience as CPS student, teacher

Voters will elect a Chicago Board of Education president for the first time ever in November, and among the four candidates running is Hilario Dominguez, the former political coordinator of the Chicago Teachers Union.

The union called Dominguez a leader of its 2019 teachers' strike against the Chicago Public Schools. Now, he wants to lead the Chicago school board and oversee a $10 billion-plus budget.

Dominguez emphasized that he is the only candidate who brings the background of having attended Chicago Public Schools and having gone on to become a teacher in the same system. His wife is a CPS assistant principal, and he plans to send his son to CPS.

"I'm the son of two working parents — a mother who cleaned houses, a father who was a truck driver — and they raised us… to love school," he said. "And that's what I did. I went to Whitney Young High School — so I'm a proud Dolphin — Johns Hopkins University, came back to be a special education teacher in these very same schools."

Dominguez said his background gives him an understanding of CPS that sets him apart.

"I know CPS from every angle, including policy," he said. "I've helped down in Springfield to bring back resources to our district. I brought back $2 billion from a digital ads tax coming to our state. Not too long ago, I advocated at county and then won $70 million for our district. And I lobbied every single day until we got that half-a-billion-dollar historic TIF [Tax Increment Financing district] surplus for our schools. So I've been fighting for our schools literally since I was a kid, when I was 17 years old."

Dominguez said at the age of 17, he organized a school walkout against budget cuts.

A major motivation behind converting the Board of Education into an elected body was to give the board political independence from the Mayor's office, but there are also concerns about candidates' independence from other bodies and organizations. As the Chicago Teachers Union's endorsed candidate, Dominguez was asked whether he would maintain independence from the union if he disagrees with one of its policies, or if he would solely carry out the union's agenda and directives.

Dominguez did not answer the question directly, but emphasized that he would fight for schools.

"I've been fighting for schools before I even knew what a union was, or before I could even vote. Those are the values that parents and students can trust, those are the values that I've had since I was a child, and those are the values that I'm going to carry with me as the next school board president," he said. "I am going to continue to fight and put our children and our parents first, because I always have."

In July, the Chicago Board of Education approved a $10 billion budget, which relies on $150 million in state funding coming from Springfield. But Illinois lawmakers have not approved that $150 million, and district leaders have warned the Board of Education that it will be a "disaster" if Springfield does not cough it up to balance the CPS budget.

Dominguez was asked what action he would take as school board president if Springfield never delivers that money. He instead emphasized a contention that Springfield has the money to provide to CPS and spelled out three sources he said could be used.

"There's half a billion dollars in unexpected revenue, then there's the $760 million Meta settlement, not to mention policies that are on the table right now that can bring in nearly $4 million in progressive revenue for our state," he said. "That's what's available right now in Springfield to get the money that we deserve."

Dominguez added that CPS' own budgetary priorities could be retooled. He gave the example of school lunches.

"Right now, we pay over $100 million for food that nearly 50% of students eat. But if we could increase our participation by 10%, CPS can make $15 million to $20 million in surplus," he said. "That means better food, better food systems, and also better wages for some of our lowest-paid workers."

Dominguez has said he would not consider closing schools as an option in the event of a fiscal crisis.

"We've closed schools before, and it hasn't worked. So what I've said is closing schools doesn't work. It actually doesn't save us money," he said. "So when people present this as a solution to a fiscal crisis, it isn't one, because the data shows us that it hasn't worked."

He instead suggested measures such as opening health clinics inside of schools, as he noted are already in place at Austin College and Career Academy High School, John B. Drake Elementary School, and Steinmetz College Prep. Such clinics would generate revenue for the school community and drive costs down, Dominguez said.

"And we're not the only ones doing it. In Atlanta, they build grocery stores inside of their schools," he said. "So now all I'm saying is that we can imagine a world where a grandmother can drop her baby off, walk down the hallway, and get her groceries for her household."

Back in 2021, Dominguez was the subject of a complaint by a fellow teacher who alleged that Dominguez made a Nazi salute and called the teacher "Hitler" in front of students, multiple published reports note. Dominguez emphasized that the teacher withdrew the complaint, and that what really happened was that he stood up for his students in the face of racism.

"I am a Latino man — someone that grew up with people mispronouncing my name on purpose to insult me sometimes. So I made a promise to myself as a student and as a teacher that I was going to stand up for racism at all times," he said. "And that's the exact same thing that I did, and that's what I will do as the next school board president, because all of our students deserve to feel seen and proud of who they are, and that's the school district that I'm fighting to create."