Judge orders Chicago school board members to stay away from CPS CEO's contract talks with teachers' union
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A judge has ordered Chicago school board members to stay away from Chicago Public Schools' ongoing contract talks with the Chicago Teachers Union, after CPS chief executive officer Pedro Martinez accused the mayor's hand-picked board members of "hijacking" negotiations.
The judge said school board members should not be in on negotiations unless Martinez specifically asks for them to be there.
In court Tuesday, Martinez's attorney, William Quinlan, told a Cook County judge that three school board members attended contract negotiations between CPS and CTU on Monday, and intimidated CPS negotiators.
Martinez said school board members didn't notify his team they would be at the bargaining table before they showed up.
"They surprised them, and said this contract has to be done as soon as possible," Martinez said, adding his negotiating team feared being fired if they don't do what school board members say. "So it was a clear message to my staff, stop negotiating in good faith, get the deal done as soon as possible, whatever it takes."
Quinlan said school board members "hijacked" negotiations. Martinez told the judge his team was told by CTU negotiators that "we hold all the cards" and that his team felt intimidated by having school board members at Monday's talks, claiming board members huddled not with CPS's bargaining team but with the union.
"Even yesterday, as early as yesterday, when board members showed up, they went directly to the CTU, were strategizing with the CTU," he said.
However, CTU officials said it's not true that school board members huddled with their bargaining team on Monday.
"That did not happen," CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said after Tuesday's hearing. "They caucused with CPS. They didn't caucus with us. They caucused with their team."
An attorney for the school board argued during the hearing that the board members employ Martinez, and have final say on approving any proposed contract with CTU, while maintaining Martinez and his team were still the ones negotiating a contract with the union.
Despite the school board's arguments, the judge in the case granted Martinez's request for a temporary restraining order keeping school board members away from contract negotiations.
The order also prohibits school board members from giving directives to the negotiating team. They would only be allowed to attend contract negotiations between CPS and CTU if Martinez asks them to.
"I think the winner today is the kids who hopefully will have a better agreement and have a better school system, because the law will be honored and the CEO will be able to negotiate the agreement without interference from anyone else with that," Quinlan said after the judge's ruling.
Martinez said the judge's ruling makes it clear that he and his bargaining team are in charge of negotiating on behalf of CPS, not the school board.
"It was a demonstration of we are in charge. This is who's in charge now," Martinez said.
Davis Gates criticized Martinez for going to court to assert his authority in contract negotiations, suggesting he should personally get involved in bargaining, rather than relying on a team of negotiators. However, it's standard practice for the CEO of Chicago Public Schools to rely on a negotiating team, typically only getting personally involved near the end of contract talks, or in the event of a strike.
"I'm disappointed that Pedro believed that he had to go to a courthouse to be able to interact powerfully, but since now the courts have decided that Pedro is in charge, we'll be here on Thursday at 10 a.m. with his bargaining team. We'll be here Friday at 10 a.m. with his bargaining team, hoping to tie this up into a nice bow, and keep it moving," Davis Gates said.
She also said Martinez's decision to go to court to keep school board members out of negotiations essentially makes him the "Lone Ranger" for CPS, and he'll have to take the blame if talks break down before reaching an agreement.
"He's put himself in an awful situation to take the fall for stalled negotiations; negotiations that have never moved this fluidly before," she said. "It's his choice to keep going with us at the table for a reasonable and a responsible and a protective contract in the environment our society is in now, or he can stop progress because he is in charge, and then he has to wear that jacket."
Davis Gates said contract talks with CPS "have always been fraught," but have made "significant strides" recently, including agreements on smaller class sizes for kindergarteners, paid transportation for sports teams, more teaching assistants for bilingual classes, and more case managers for special education students.
"Right now, I would say we're at the 15 [yard line], and we're ready to get into the end zone," she said. "This is going to be a legendary contract, it really will be, it already is in a lot of respects."
Asked if she could recall an instance in which school board members came to negotiations without being invited by the district's CEO, Davis Gates did not offer a specific example.
On Friday, the Chicago Board of Education voted unanimously to fire Martinez without cause, but his contract allows him to stay on the job for six more months.
Martinez has said Johnson – a former CPS teacher and former CTU activist – asked him to resign in September, after he declined the mayor's request to take out a $300 million high-interest loan to pay for the costs of a new proposed teachers' contract and pension costs previously covered by the city. Johnson has publicly denied asking Martinez to step down, but sources told CBS News Chicago he did ask.
CBS News Chicago obtained a September email between a top aide for Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the previous school board. The email provided talking points that would point to "cause" for Martinez's ouster.
The entire previous school board resigned in October after being pressured by the mayor to fire Martinez. Johnson then picked a new school board within days, and it was that newly chosen school board that later voted to fire Martinez.