Mayor Brandon Johnson announces six new CPS board members after mass resignations
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson named six new members to the Chicago Board of Education, days after the entire current board stepped down amid months of tensions at the Chicago Public Schools, including over the fate of the district's CEO, Pedro Martinez.
The new board members include Olga Bautista, co-executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force; political consultant Michilla Blaise, who is also chief of staff to Cook County Board Commissioner Frank Aguilar; West Side community organizer Mary Gardner; Rev. Mitchell L. Ikenna Johnson, former executive director of Developing Communities Project; labor organizer Frank Niles Thomas, a former local school council chairman at Dunne Elementary; and retired CPS teacher Deborah Pope, who also once was a paid Chicago Teachers Union organizer, but retired from the union in June.
Blaise previously was running for one of the 10 elected board seats on the ballot in November, but dropped out weeks ago. None of the mayor's other picks were running for elected school board seats.
Johnson thanked the current board members for their service, and said he trusts the new board members to continue the plan for CPS to prioritize neighborhood schools over charter schools and selective enrollment schools as part of the district's 5-year strategic plan, which was approved by the board members who are now resigning.
"I have no doubt that the new board will continue and build on the progress, using the 5-year strategic plan as we guide and collaborate with stakeholders, community partners to bring about the transformation that this city deserves," Johnson said.
Johnson said all six of his picks remain in the vetting process before they are officially sworn in. The new board members are expected to be seated by the next school board meeting on Oct. 24.
Johnson's announcement was interrupted by a handful of protesters who shouted the new school board appointments were "not legit."
Mayor seeking to remove Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez
Sources have said Johnson last month asked Pedro Martinez to step down as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, but Martinez refused, saying he would wait to hear from the Board of Education. Martinez has two years left on his contract, which was approved by the Chicago Board of Education after he was appointed in 2021.
Jonson later 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 a $300 million loan to pay for teacher raises and cover non-teacher CPS pensions that had once been covered by the city.
Johnson would not let the media question the new appointees on whether they would vote to oust Martinez, or if they would support the loan Johnson wants CPS to take out, saying reporters could ask those questions once the new board members officially take office.
However, Johnson said the incoming board will evaluate Martinez's performance as head of CPS.
"The board's job – like all board members, no matter what kind of board you sit on – is to evaluate the executive. That's their job, their duty they will do that," the mayor said.
Martinez had opposed the loan and refused to include a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching staff in this year's CPS budget. The city had covered non-teaching pension costs for CPS for years until former Mayor Lori Lightfoot shifted the cost back to CPS in 2021. Johnson wanted CPS to continue paying for that cost as the city struggles with its own massive budget deficit.
"We have not seen the plan or dedication from the corporate leaders at CPS, but this board intends to make sure our schools have the tools they need to graduate and educate prepared citizens of Chicago," said incoming school board member Rev. Mitchell L. Ikenna Johnson.
Mayor Johnson (no relation to Rev. Johnson) bristled on Monday when asked if he collaborated with the Chicago Teachers Union – for which he once worked as an organizer, and which was a major financial backer of his campaign for mayor – to replace the entire school board so the new board could fire Martinez for defying the mayor's wishes regarding CPS finances.
"Every single mayor in the history of Chicago has had the authority to appoint board members to multiple boards. Guess who has that authority? This mayor does," Johnson said.
According to published reports, the current board had backed Martinez in the dispute with Johnson over the CPS budget and contract negotiations CTU. According to WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, while the current board backs Martinez's opposition to the loan, they have their own concerns about his performance as CPS chief executive officer, but were unwilling to fire Martinez for cause as Johnson wanted.
Martinez is opposing high-interest loans the mayor wants CPS to take out to support teacher raises being negotiated with the CTU, at a time when CPS is facing a $500 million deficit for the 2025 contract year. The board did not include the loan in the approved CPS budget for the 2024-25 school year.
While Johnson wanted Martinez out as CEO, he does not have the power to fire Martinez himself. Ultimately, the board makes the final call on firing its CEO, but it made no move to fire Martinez at its September meeting.
Johnson denied any of the incoming board members were picked because of where they stand on firing Martinez or taking out that loan.
Sabrina Franza: "Are you saying there's nothing that's currently happening – whether it be teacher negotiations or this ongoing back and forth with Pedro Martinez – that influenced the decision? This is solely made based on a transition plan that was release before you became mayor of the city?"
Mayor Johnson: "Yes. My vision. Do you believe me?"
While some alders said Mayor Johnson was acting like a "dictator" with his unilateral moves regarding the Board of Education, they also said he indeed has the right to make such appointments as mayor.
"I understand that Mayor Johnson is the mayor of the city of Chicago," said Ald. Nichole Lee (11th). "He has the right to appoint just like any mayor before him has."
During the mayor's hour-long news conference, he let those listening know he was the mayor, saying something along the lines of, "I'm the mayor of Chicago," 14 different times.
At the news conference at a South Side church with Black supporters standing around him, Johnson also continued to bring up race.
"The most legitimate existence of anyone in this country is the legitimate existence of a Black man," Johnson said.
Ald. Lee said the overall tone of the mayor's address came off as divisive.
"I was very disappointed in the tone it struck," she said. "It did not engender any real feelings of, you know, 'We're in this together.'"
The appointment of the new board comes three days after the mayor's office and the school board announced Friday that all seven board members Johnson had appointed after taking office last year would step down this month.
In a joint statement, the mayor's office and the school board cited the upcoming shift from a board appointed entirely by the mayor to a partially elected board. Voters in November will choose 10 board members, while Johnson will appoint 11 others, as well as the board's president. It's expected at least some of seven members the mayor appointed on Monday will continue to serve on the board once the hybrid board is in place in January, depending on the results of the school board election in November.
Johnson's chief education officer, Jen Johnson (no relation), said bringing in new board members allows for a longer transition period to the hybrid board, and allows them to gain experience on the board before the entire hybrid board takes office in January.
Mayor Johnson will select the remaining appointed members of the hybrid board after the November election.
Aldermen say replacing entire school board "brings further instability" to CPS
A day after the announcement of the resignation of the current board, dozens of members of the City Council blasted the recent developments in an open letter.
Following the announcement of the resignations, the 41 aldermen wrote, "This is unprecedented and brings further instability to our school district."
"It's not progressive," said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), a member of the City Council's Progressive Caucus, who have been the mayor's most vocal supporters during his term. "It's not transparent. It's not accountable."
Vasquez, who also signed onto the letter, argued taking out a loan to "cover a gap" is "not solving a problem. You're exacerbating the debt problem."
The alderpeople who signed the letter demanded a City Council hearing on the mayor's appointments before they officially take office.
"Chicagoans deserve a voice when it comes to decisions that will affect our school system and city as a whole," they wrote. "With the next School Board meeting scheduled for late October, only days away from the general election, it would be a disservice to appoint anyone without thorough vetting – this is not what we fought for in our efforts for a fully elected School Board."
"It looks very Trump and Giuliani-like— telling the legislative side they have zero authority," said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), "which means that the people that we represent have zero authority to hold him accountable. It really kind of puts us into a realm that I haven't seen before.
"If you will not listen to us on the front end, you are definitely going to hear us on the back end when you come asking us for money—and many of us start saying no," said Ald. Ray Lopez (15th).
"This whole dictatorship tone that the mayor is proposing is not a good tone, especially when you're looking at us at some point to pass your budget," said Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), "because there's going to be give and take."
After the mayor unveiled his picks for the new school board members, five aldermen scheduled a special City Council meeting for Wednesday afternoon to call on the outgoing and incoming school board members to testify about the challenges facing CPS.
The mayor said it does not give him any pause to hear a vast majority of City Council members asking him to slow down on appointing a new school board.
"How much longer are we going to make parents in the city of Chicago wait? How much longer?" he said. "Everybody agrees that there are real issues and problems of disinvestment, right? Do we all agree that schools are woefully underfuned? Can we all have some agreement on that? I think we do? Right? The question is, how will other elected officials use their power – or if we use someone else's word, flex their power – to make sure that parents do not have to wait any longer?"
Johnson said aldermen "can have as many hearings as they want," but noted he has the sole authority to appoint school board members.
Bishop Larry Trotter – whose church, Sweet Holy Spirit Church, hosted the mayor's announcement – said he and other faith leaders in the city trust Johnson's agenda for CPS and his vision for improving education for the city's public school students.
"We are 110% behind Mayor Brandon Johnson and his vision for the Chicago Public Schools. It's clear that the mayor was elected by the people of Chicago to lead us. We cannot back down. We must trust him in the process," Trotter said. "We will not lose time crying over whatever happened before now, but we speak life to what is to come."
Johnson also vehemently defended his handling of CPS and his commitment to the city's students.
"I understand that there are individuals that wish to use this as a political opportunity to sow seeds of doubt, but make no mistake about it, I am going to stand firm and flat-foot to make sure our students get what they deserve," Johnson said.
The mayor noted, while he was a CTU organizer, he was willingly arrested while protesting school closings in Black neighborhoods, and that he was among the elected officials who successfully lobbied state lawmakers in Springfield to approve a fully elected school board for Chicago.
While a hybrid CPS school board will take office in Chicago in January, it won't be until 2027 that a fully elected board is in place.
