Ethics concerns raised amid Mayor Brandon Johnson's leave of absence from CPS

As the Chicago Teachers Union pushes hard to finalize a contract with Chicago Public Schools — and on Thursday accused CPS of suddenly dragging its feet — ethical questions about Mayor Brandon Johnson are being raised in a legal filing by CPS CEO Pedro Martinez.

That filing notes that since the mayor, a former teacher, remains on leave from CPS, he will benefit financially from any salary increases being negotiated should he return to a teaching position in the district.

A 2023 memo written by CPS’ Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton, attached to the lawsuit filing, raised questions about that arrangement with regard to not only the mayor, but also former Deputy Mayor Jen Johnson (no relation to the mayor). The deputy mayor later told Felton the matter had been discussed with the city's ethics adviser, who "did not have concerns."

The CPS board voted last week to fire Martinez, though under the terms of his contract he remains in that post for six months. But Martinez last week went to court to try to block any modification to his role as leader. A Cook County judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order preventing board members interfering with Martinez's job duties or directing CPS staff.

An amended version of Martinez’s filing noted that Mayor Johnson remains on leave from CPS and “stands to gain credit for his time on leave and as Mayor when calculating salary increases and pension benefits from CPS.”

In the memo, first reported by the Chicago Tribune, Felton documented conversations he had with Deputy Mayor Johnson about the CPS leave, which was granted for purposes of working for the Chicago Teachers Union. The mayor has resigned from that position.

Felton said he was “concerned that it could be a potential conflict of interest for the mayor to be an employee of an organization that he was overseeing (through the appointment of the Board of Education).”

“My primary concern is that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor would be able to guarantee future employment with CPS if they chose to return to the district, as our current practice is to place employees returning from a CTU leave into the reassigned teacher pool,” Felton wrote. “While I imagine it is unlikely that Mayor Johnson would return to the classroom, this is not an immaterial benefit.”

Felton suggested Johnson resign from CPS and Deputy Mayor Johnson take a personal leave of absence from the district.

But in May 2023, Deputy Mayor Johnson told Felton that Mayor Johnson did not want to leave his position to “signal his support for education and teachers.”

According to the memo, on June 6, 2023, Felton suggested the deputy mayor speak with the city’s ethics adviser about the issue. Ten days later, Deputy Mayor Johnson told Felton she had done so, and they “did not have concerns about them being on a leave from CTU and that they would ‘keep the status quo for now.’”

Johnson's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Martinez’s lawyers filed seeking that restraining order, which was granted, after board members showed up to a union bargaining session on Monday, without Martinez’s knowledge or approval. Cook County Judge Joel Chupack ordered the board not to participate in ongoing contract talks without Martinez’s approval.

Also on Thursday, the CTU offered an update on those talks after bargaining had ended for the day. Zeidre Foster, a member of the union bargaining team, told reporters talks had slowed considerably.

“Our bargaining sessions earlier this week showed real promise. We felt a sense of urgency and commitment from both sides to try to land the guild to secure a contract that our students and teachers deserve,” Foster said. “Today, they only had one proposal for us after four hours of scheduled bargaining. So we believe that CPS has really drawn the line and showed us that they are no longer interested in landing the deal by Jan. 6.”

The CTU is pushing hard to land a contract deal before a new, partly elected school board is seated on Jan. 15 and before Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Chicago Public Schools officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But they have argued that many of CPS’ proposals are unaffordable for a district facing significant deficits in the years ahead.

In his court filing, Martinez also cites a letter from CPS’ chief labor relations officer, saying CTU had shortened the negotiating timetable by months compared to the last contract negotiations.

Contributing: Sarah Karp