On this first day for Chicago Public Schools, could CEO Pedro Martinez's days be numbered?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The school year for the Chicago Public Schools began Monday amid a sweltering heat wave, as questions continued to swirl over the future of the district's top boss.
Several published reports signal that Mayor Brandon Johnson—a former Chicago Teachers Union employee—wants to oust Pedro Martinez, the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools.
Independent experts said this is all about leverage as high-stakes teacher contracts are being hammered out.
Before the ceremonial first bell of the year on Monday, at Chalmers STEAM Elementary School at 2745 W. Roosevelt Rd., Mayor Johnson acknowledged Martinez and asked for a round of applause for him. But how loudly Johnson is applauding Pedro Martinez behind closed doors lately—and whether he wants him to stay on the job—remains a mystery.
Martinez was selected by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and ran the district through much of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on Monday, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates—Mayor Johnson's old boss—wrote: "In the corporate world, a CEO is charged with the financial health of the company. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez saw the fiscal cliff that the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds signified and sat on his hands as he drove the district over the edge."
Martinez is being targeted by the union over his unwillingness to support high-interest loans to support teacher raises, as the CTU works on a new contract.
"At this moment, he's got his foot on the brake, and it's the CTU that has its foot on the gas pedal that is driving us towards the cliff," said Joe Ferguson, heads the nonpartisan Civic Federation—which studies city spending.
Ferguson said what is missing from the debate is an analysis by a neutral party to crunch the CPS books.
"This is a crisis that has many, many fathers and mothers," said Ferguson. "He is the one that is in charge when it came upon us."
An audit is needed, Ferguson said.
"We have not had a neutral broker bring all the numbers forward that tells us actually how serious the fiscal situation is," said Ferguson. "That needs to be done sooner than later."
Martinez was in charge during much of the COVID crisis, when federal dollars fueled new spending. Those dollars are no longer coming in.
"It was spent on expanded programming and expanded staffing, which is exactly what the CTU president is asking for right now—more of both," Ferguson said.
Teachers were also applauded on the first day of school Monday. But as the school year starts hot in terms of the weather, has the mayor metaphorically cooled on Martinez to a level that can't be repaired?
"It's a little bit disappointing that first day of school—when the city is on the heat emergency and our focus should be on children—that that's the moment to call out the CEO?" Ferguson said.
Ultimately, the CPS School Board makes the final call on firing its CEO—but the mayor's opinion casts a very long shadow.
This may be the last time a Chicago mayor will cast that shadow to control who is in charge. This November, voters will decide on members of a new elected school board on the school board—making for an even more complex situation for CPS.