The seven Chicago Board of Education members will resign, allowing Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint people to do his bidding.
In short, Johnson wants the board to oust the school’s CEO, Pedro Martinez, because he won’t bend the knee to the mayor.
“Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the Chicago Board of Education are enacting a transition plan which includes all current members transitioning from service on the Board later this month,” said Johnson’s office. “With the shift to a hybrid elected and appointed Board forthcoming, current Board members and Mayor Johnson understand that laying a strong foundation for the shift is necessary to serve the best interests of students and families in Chicago Public Schools.”
Sheesh. From The Chicago Sun-Times:
The entire Chicago Board of Education is resigning, a stunning development after months of acrimony that clears the way for Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint a new board that will follow his orders — fire schools CEO Pedro Martinez, make a contract deal with the Chicago Teachers Union and take a loan to cover a city pension payment and the teachers’ contract this year.Johnson confirmed Friday in an exclusive interview that the expected resignations of all seven board members will come later this month. This was followed by a joint statement from the School Board and the mayor. WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times first reported the possibility of resignations on Monday.The motives behind the mass resignations appear to be complicated. The board has seemed to back Martinez in clashes with Johnson at times but has also had its own concerns with Martinez’s performance, WBEZ and the Sun-Times previously reported.In the end, the departures seemed mutual, a source said — board members were upset with the mayor’s handling of the strife and the position they were being put in, and the mayor wanted a change since his appointed board wasn’t doing as he wanted.
The members include mostly activists:
What a shock that most of them are activists. I’m seriously totes shocked!
Johnson appointed this board in July 2023.
Everything started falling apart this summer when the board members resisted Johnson’s “push to use a loan to fill a mid-year budget gap that will be created when the teachers contract is settled, even if the alternative means making cuts to the budget.”
The board disagreed with Johnson about the school board paying “a part of a municipal pension payment that covers non-teaching CPS staff.”
The board and Martinez did not include either in the CPS budget they passed in July.
Johnson wants to remove Martinez “amid stalled talks with the Chicago Teachers Union.”
Of course, the radical CTU aligns itself with Johnson, which has put even more pressure on the board to oust Martinez.
His last assessment demanded that he improve his “visionary leadership, community engagement, and management.” The members complained that Martinez has been too slow in implementing the “CPS’ five-year strategic plan.”
He could prove harder to remove thanks to his contract:
A clause in Martinez’s contract means firing him without cause would see him stay on for six months. That’s both an untenable political and practical prospect for Johnson, who would not want a lame duck CEO for half a year, especially after Martinez rejected his request to resign and his ideas for addressing the district’s financial problems. And critically, leaders of the teachers’ union, who are allies of Johnson and propelled him into office, have expressed doubt they could get a contract deal done under Martinez.But because he has not been accused of anything egregious, such as corruption, firing him for “cause” could open up the board to a lawsuit. However, a source close to the board was highly critical of Martinez’s decision to publicly air his interactions with the mayor in a recent op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. Martinez said the mayor had asked him to resign and he declined. The source described that as a “brazen” move and “insubordination” — an accusation that could potentially be used in an effort to fire Martinez.In December 2022, Martinez’s contract was amended. One change broadens the definition of firing “for cause” to include “any other conduct inconsistent with the CEO’s duties and obligations to CPS or the Board, or that may be reasonably perceived to have a material adverse impact on the good name and integrity of CPS or the Board in the sole judgment of the Board.”
The members will leave their posts in January.
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