CHICAGO — Nearly three years after leaving his post as Chicago Board of Education vice president, former teacher and Chicago Public Schools parent Sendhil Revuluri is vying to return, announcing his candidacy for school board president Wednesday.

If victorious in the November 2026 election, he aims to unite the board behind a common goal: making sure the children of Chicago are learning, Revuluri said in an interview with the Tribune ahead of his campaign announcement.

“There is a massive consensus across Chicago, in every neighborhood, across different identities, different affiliations, that we want our students to learn as much as they can, because that’s how we give them opportunity in the future,” he said. “That’s how we give them choices about what they do next.”

Revuluri, 50, is the first to announce his candidacy to lead the 21-seat board in next year’s election, when voters will choose the board, replacing the current hybrid model with 10 elected members and 11 appointed by the mayor, including President Sean Harden.

A native Chicagoan with a history in teaching and finance, Revuluri is also a parent of two students at a CPS selective enrollment school. He was vice president of the board from 2019-22 after being appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Revuluri stepped down in December 2022 after three and a half years, and in the time since, has worked as a school board coach.

His desire to bring clarity and effectiveness to the board alongside hundreds of conversations over several years with constituents is what ultimately pushed him to run and center students in his campaign, he said. The board will make better decisions if it has a common goal, according to Revuluri, and that happens when no outside factors take precedence over students.

“I think we haven’t gotten to the point where everyone is really aligned on the purpose of our public schools is for our kids to learn, and so that has to be primary before we take on any other considerations,” he said.

The school board has been plagued with turmoil, most recently the $734 million budget deficit. To cut costs, the district slashed various central office and school positions, including custodians, classroom assistants and crossing guards, drawing criticism from some stakeholders.

Additionally, the board passed a $10.25 billion budget in August, reliant on outside special tax increment financing districts, known as TIF surplus, which the city has not yet received. That dependence totals $379 million and it is to be determined how much the district will actually get.

Revuluri acknowledged that the current board inherited a plethora of issues, including the budget, which will likely have lasting effects on the district. CPS officials informed the board in several meetings over the summer that budget shortfalls and debt repayments aren’t going away anytime soon.

Those challenges shouldn’t hinder the board from reaching its goals, but rather, act as a catalyst to work together, Revuluri said. “I think this board has stepped into a situation where there’s a lot of change, not just in governance, but in leadership, in budgets, in politics, in student learning, and that’s challenging,” Revuluri said, adding, it “doesn’t mean we agree on everything.”

“I’ll work with anyone who’s focused on student learning. That includes the mayor, the City Council, the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU locals, community leaders, anyone who shares that goal,” Revuluri said. “And if someone doesn’t share the goal of putting our students learning first, I think that speaks for itself.”

Revuluri’s plan to work with people in support of student learning extends to his future campaign finances, he said.

He said he has funding commitments from friends, family, and colleagues who share his beliefs, although he did not provide specifics.

When asked about accepting money from union groups or outside organizations, he emphasized that progressing student learning will be the compass of his choices. “We’re just launching my campaign, and so I look forward to having conversations with everyone who cares about our kids and about our city.”

With many facets of CPS facing an unknown future, including a permanent replacement for former district chief Pedro Martinez, decisions cannot be reactive and short term, he said. As a selective enrollment school parent, Revuluri said he is happy his two children go to a school that works well for them where they are “learning a lot and surrounded by a community that helps them grow as people too.”

“Instead of pitting schools against one another or chasing what’s politically popular, we need to focus on what’s effective,” he said.

He added that all public schools exist to ensure students learn, no matter which school they attend, and decisions around programming, policies and actions have to be student centered.

“That’s why we fund them as a society, as a city,” Revuluri said. “That’s why we allocate the resources that we do from our local budgets and local revenue, as well as from the state and the federal funds that we get.”

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