City Council members express concern with CPS Board resignations

A majority of City Council members voiced “deep concern” with the resignation of the entire Chicago Board of Education on Friday.

In a statement released Saturday, 36 of the 50 City Council members said the expected resignations of all seven board members is “unprecedented and brings further instability to our school district.”

The resignations come after months of acrimony, and it clears the way for Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint a new board that will likely follow his orders to 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.

The City Council members are largely worried about a renewed push by the mayor to use the loan under the new school board. Martinez and the school board didn’t include the loan in the CPS budget passed in July.

“It is critical that CPS leaders keep the interests of taxpayers and our children top of mind as they make budget decisions that will impact the District for years to come,” the City Council members’ statement said.

“CEO Pedro Martinez and the members of the School Board, who have announced their resignation, understood the reality of that situation by passing a budget that did not include this loan. There is extreme cause for concern now that those voices have been diminished.”

In the face of a budget shortfall, Johnson said the historically underfunded school district needs more state money. But CPS’ attempts to get more money from Springfield this year went unsuccessful.

The alderpersons in their statement also called for a City Council meeting before the end of October and before any new appointments to the school board are made to discuss the issue.

“Chicagoans deserve a voice when it comes to decisions that will affect our school system and city as a whole,” the statement said. “A School Board full of lame-duck appointees carrying out only a few months of a term before residents get a chance to elect representatives is not what is in our best interest.”

In a joint statement issued Friday from the mayor and school board, they painted the departures as an agreed-upon “transition plan” ahead of that new structure.

“With the unprecedented increase in board membership, transitioning new members now will allow them time to orient and gain critical experience prior to welcoming additional elected and appointed members in 2025,” the statement read.

The outgoing school board of mostly activists and advocates was appointed to serve a year and a half before being replaced in January by the new board. Johnson will appoint 11 of the 21-member board and therefore maintain control for two more years. The other 10 will be elected this fall.

The resignations are expected to be announced when Johnson names the replacements Monday morning at a South Side church, his staff previously confirmed to the Sun-Times and WBEZ.

Contributing: Sarah Karp and Nader Issa