Latest CPS upheaval could be resignations of Chicago Board of Education members

In the latest twist in the ongoing leadership struggle at Chicago Public Schools, there soon could be major turnover at the Board of Education.

No resignations had been handed in to the mayor’s office as of Monday afternoon, but a source close to the board confirmed conversations are ongoing about the makeup of the board for the next few months.

The exact motives behind any board members’ potential decisions to resign remain unclear and appear to be complicated.

The board has seemed to back CPS CEO Pedro Martinez in clashes with Mayor Brandon Johnson at times but has also had its own concerns with Martinez’s performance. Board members, most of whom are political novices, have not responded to questions.

No matter the reasons, any mass resignations could be viewed as a rejection of Johnson’s handling of the tension with CPS leadership. It would be an astonishing outcome for this board that has worked hand-in-hand with the mayor to usher in his progressive vision ahead of the city’s first school board elections. A new board will be seated in January.

Johnson told Martinez this month that he wants him to leave, but Martinez has left the decision up to the board. The board has final say over hiring and firing the CEO.

Martinez and Johnson have disagreed over fiscal questions, such as Johnson’s insistence that the district take out a loan to cover part of a new Chicago Teachers Union contract once it's settled and a municipal pension payment. Johnson has stressed that he will not accept cuts to staffing or school programming, even as Martinez has floated them in order to balance the budget this year. That ultimately led the mayor to push for a new CEO.

Martinez is arguing he should stay on because the school system needs stability. He has picked up support from many different camps, including more than 20 City Council members, a group of Latino leaders, three former CPS CEOs and some powerful business interests. They have expressed dismay that Johnson would replace the CEO in the midst of negotiations with the CTU.

But the board, like Johnson, has been unhappy with Martinez, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week. The source with knowledge of officials’ conversations additionally blamed the schools chief for several shortcomings that have put the board in a difficult position, such as failing to present acceptable plans to try to secure more revenue or pay for new contracts for the principals’ and teachers’ unions without cuts to schools — charges he denies. CPS faced a $505 million deficit for this school year as federal pandemic relief funding ran out — and is projected to have similar budget gaps for the next several years.

“There are big challenges with what we have observed in terms of Pedro’s leadership,” the source said. “There is no revenue plan, no Springfield plan … his intergovernmental affairs office has been hollowed out.”

The source was especially critical of Martinez’s op-ed in the Chicago Tribune last week. Martinez said the mayor had asked him to resign and he declined. The source said publicly airing the interaction was a “brazen” move and “insubordination” — an accusation that could potentially be used in an effort to fire Martinez.

In the case of resignations, Johnson would suddenly have a clear path to appointing new board members who would likely follow his orders to fire Martinez, make a contract deal with the CTU and take out a loan. A new board would still face some legal obstacles to forcing out Martinez.

Asked at an unrelated news conference Monday if he had sought the resignations of school board members or Martinez, Johnson said, “I didn’t ask anybody to do anything.

“The only thing that I require in this moment is leadership that’s prepared to invest in our children,” the mayor said. “The strategy is ultimately what’s best for our children. This dynamic or element around whose political wishes should be prioritized, the only political wishes that should be prioritized right now are the children and the families who love these children.”