Aaron "Jitu" Brown

Aaron “Jitu” Brown is the incumbent board member for District 5a, elected in 2024. He is the national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance, which opposes public school privatization. He was an education organizer for the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. In 2015, he took part in a hunger strike to keep Dyett High School open.^{1, 2}

He opposes charter school expansion and says CPS can take over management of existing charters.¹ He wants state lawmakers to increase taxes for the wealthy and close corporate tax loopholes to fund schools.¹ His campaign says he supports expanding the Sustainable Community Schools model and ending punitive standardized testing.³ He co-leads the Black Student Achievement Committee, which works to improve outcomes for Black students.⁴