Chicago Public Schools CEO rejects buyout amid tensions with mayor, teachers' union
CHICAGO - The power struggle at Chicago Public Schools has taken a new twist.
A source close to CPS CEO Pedro Martinez confirms he rejected an offer earlier this week from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked school board to buy out the rest of his contract, as Mayor Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have long wanted him gone amid tense contract negotiations.
Speculation swirled that the mayor’s brand-new interim board could vote to fire Martinez on Wednesday. But the vote never came. Instead, board members asked Martinez about things like the district’s contingency plan should incoming President Donald Trump cut federal funding for education.
"What is the risk of grants that we have always taken for granted that could be changed in a way that is negative to our district?" Martinez testified to board members. "That is something that we’re analyzing now."
Meanwhile, the district’s CFO laid out the already steep financial challenges—with a budget deficit looming.
"We ended the last fiscal year with $66 million in the bank. If you look at the size of our budget, that was three days’ worth of cash," said CPS CFO Miroslava Mejia-Krug.
CPS leaders have said the CTU’s contract demands could cost a whopping $10 billion over four years. This week, CTU says they have moved off their initial ask for 9% yearly raises in favor of 5-6%. The union has sought 13,000 new positions. CPS’s counterproposal is 4-5%.
Both CTU and the Board of Education have expressed a desire to get a new contract done before late January—when Trump takes the oath of office—and a new hybrid elected school board gets seated.
On Tuesday, a defiant Mayor Johnson expressed frustration with the lack of progress.
"I’ve taught in our schools, I sent my children to these schools, and I’ll be doggone if anyone’s going to take away my power after the people of Chicago voted to transform this city," Johnson told a packed City Club.
And this week, nearly 700 principals sent a letter requesting the current board keep Martinez in his job, citing a need for stability in the school district.