Mayor Brandon Johnson inaugurated his new Chicago Board of Education on Monday, his newest transfer to regain management of the Chicago public faculty system after weeks of battle between him and embattled CEO Pedro Martinez.
After Friday’s dramatic announcement that each one seven council members have been resigning, Johnson sought a clear slate at a South Side press convention the place he launched their replacements till a brand new 21-member hybrid council is put in in January. But the noise surrounding final week’s gorgeous upheaval nonetheless hasn’t quieted down, with condemnations persevering with to come back from the City Council, together with from Johnson’s progressive allies, in addition to Springfield.
Johnson introduced simply six council candidates on Monday: Olga Bautista, an environmental activist from the Southeast Side; Michilla Blaise, longtime political advisor and present chief of employees to Cook County Commissioner Frank Aguilar; West Side activist Mary Gardner; Rev. Mitchell Johnson; Debby Pope, Chicago Teachers Union employees member; and Frank Thomas.
Johnson’s notable energy wrestle with Martinez and his self-appointed faculty board erupted after contentious finances talks this summer time, in the end main all board members to decide on to resign somewhat than facet with him. The disagreement stems from Martinez and the council’s refusal to take out a high-interest mortgage to cowl pension funds and a part of an upcoming contract with the Chicago Teachers Union, an in depth political ally of the mayor.
Martinez mentioned the mayor requested him to resign in September, which he refused. The faculty principal can solely be compelled to resign by the board. Now that the primary iteration of Johnson’s Board of Education has been eradicated, the trail to firing Martinez — and taking out the $300 million mortgage — appears clearer than ever.
Johnson, earlier than working for public workplace, spent years as a CTU organizer and gained the 2023 mayor’s race after campaigning on a platform of reworking public training. However, this 12 months’s contract negotiations with the CTU have stalled because the district and union’s want for extra state funding from Springfield continues to falter.
Faced with a big CPS finances deficit this 12 months as a result of depletion of pandemic-related funding, the mayor’s group pitched the mortgage however Martinez refused, saying it might be fiscally irresponsible.
Over the weekend, following the Board of Education’s resignation announcement, greater than 40 aldermen agreed with Martinez. They printed an open letter criticizing the mayor’s dealing with of the scenario and warning in opposition to the mortgage.
The group additionally requested Johnson to name a listening to earlier than the top of the month and earlier than any new appointments are made to the CPS board.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Ann Williams, a Chicago Democrat who was the architect behind the elected faculty board invoice supported by Johnson and the CTU, launched her personal assertion suggesting that Springfield might get extra concerned.
“This inserts a degree of uncertainty and instability into our colleges that’s extraordinarily regarding,” he wrote Saturday. “The degree of state oversight wanted for the District might be influenced by selections made by this mayor and his administration within the coming weeks and months.”
On Friday, following information of the mass resignation, CTU launched an announcement condemning Martinez’s management: “Unfortunately, this information displays the continued instability created by the District’s CEO. Even although we lastly have a mayor working to remodel our colleges, this CEO continues to say “no” to progress.”
