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 committee hearing on education and child development.
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. Instead, the meeting will focus on Martinez and the CPS budget.
Meanwhile, members of the Chicago Teachers Union, parents, and elected officials will hold a news conference calling on CPS to help keep several Acero charter schools open after a closure plan was announced last week.
Acero said the decision 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 public schools.
That news conference concerning Acero charter schools is at 7 a.m.
The committee hearing with Pedro Martinez will take place at 9 a.m.
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.
