D200 candidate wants to share expertise with board

In 2018, Mary Anne Mohanraj, 49, told Wednesday Journal that she was interested in seeking higher office, perhaps mayor, trustee or county commissioner. The previous year, she had campaigned successfully for a seat on the Oak Park Public Library board, a run that was prompted, she said at the time, by the election of Donald J. Trump as president in 2016. 

Now, several months after Trump lost his bid for re-election to President Joe Biden, Mohanraj has focused her sights on Oak Park and River Forest High School, as one of six candidates seeking four open seats on the District 200 school board. 

Like the library board, the school board seems a natural fit for Mohanraj, an English professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a prolific author.