CTU calling for CPS to help charter schools, City Council to meet with CPS CEO over budget
CHICAGO (CBS) —Two events taking place Wednesday morning are focused on ongoing issues with schools in Chicago.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedros Martinez will attend a meeting with the City Council Committee on Education and Child Development to discuss the district's budget.
The meeting was originally set to address the CPS board shakeup after all seven members resigned and Mayor Brandon Johnson announced six new replacements.
Several aldermen have suggested the school board resignations were directly tied to the mayor's growing displeasure with Martinez.
They wanted current and future board members to appear for questioning, but no board members showed up. Instead, the meeting will focus on the CPS budget.
Despite the district struggling to fill a $500 million dollar deficit for the next school year, members of the Chicago Teachers Union, parents, and elected officials aligned with CTU gathered Wednesday morning to call on CPS to help keep several Acero charter schools open, after closures were announced last week.
"We ask that CPS and Pedro Martinez keep their commitment to stop school closures, and ensure a plan for our community today," Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) said.
Acero said the plan to close 7 of their schools after this school year is not final, but that they can't legally operate with a "budget deficit".
The CTU wants CPS to absorb some of the charter schools the district is already helping fund. They also want a state law that would halt the closure of any charter or public schools through 2027.
The Chicago School Board passed a similar resolution, but it only included traditional public schools, not charter schools.
"The CEO of Chicago Public Schools has said that he is not going to close schools. This is a school, and it's in the Chicago Public Schools, because they hold the charter. So I'm going to hold him to that," CTU president Stacy Davis Gates said Wednesday outside of Sandra Cisneros Acero Elementary School, one of the seven Acero schools targeted for closure.
Meantime, it was unclear Wednesday if City Council members would try again to bring school board members before the Education Committee to discuss the board shakeup.
Mayor Johnson and CPS CEO
Critics have suggested the mayor is seeking to oust Martinez to appease the Chicago Teachers Union, which is in the midst of negotiations with CPS on a new contract. Johnson was once an organizer for CTU, and the union was a top contributor to his campaign for mayor.
"It doesn't really look good to put your thumb on the scale during active collective bargaining negotiations. We're obligated to have some neutrality," Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said.
Martinez opposes the Mayor's plan to get a $300 million high-interest loan to pay for teacher raises and non-teaching staff pensions, and did not include the loan in this year's CPS budget.
Jonson has publicly denied asking Martinez to step down, but with a new board in place, it clears the way for the new board to fire Martinez, finalize a new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union, and take out the loan Johnson wants CPS to take out.
The mayor does not have the power to fire Martinez himself. Ultimately, the school board makes the final call on firing its CEO, but the board members who are resigning made no move to fire Martinez at their September meeting.
The mayor named six new members to the board, prompting immediate pushback from aldermen who argued the process was moving too fast, and they had questions.