Sadly, we were out spent from the beginning
Dear Friends,
I fought for nearly a decade for our school board to become elected so that stakeholders and community members could be on it.
I worked with an amazing grass roots team to collect more than 2,100 signatures for my campaign for that office.
Ultimately, our grassroots effort cannot keep up with my opponents’ challenges.
The hearings, already stretching into their second month, have sapped out my campaign’s time and money and we no longer have the resources needed to respond to all of the objections remaining.
The Tribune asked me, “Did you challenge anyone?”
No. I did not Challenge any one because I believe in ballot access.
I am proud of the work that we did, and deep down, I am fully confident that we had the support to win it. We had a winning message. One that was city wide but LSC based. Voters were responding.
But it became a battle of lawyers, not voters, and we simply could not financially keep up.
I know we would have made a difference on the Board. My experience on Local School Councils, my experience growing up a student with a mental health disability, and my commitment to public education as organizer and lobbyist in Springfield where I helped win early funding for the Grow Your Own teachers program, would have contributed a great deal.
Ultimately, our grassroots organization no longer has the resources to keep up with the objectors.
I am therefore suspending my campaign for Chicago’s School Board 2024.
This is not the end. This is not a good bye. This is a, we will never stop fighting, because we will never forget why:
We need to save Chicago.
Over the next few years, I will remain dedicated to continue my advocacy for Chicago Public Schools at the local level and for to participate in the block clubs of my neighborhood.
You have all meant so much to me.
Thank you. Thank you all sincerely.
And I continue to be Looking Forward.
Daniel
Daniel Steven Kleinman
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