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The Chicago Board of Education is slated to vote on a resolution that commits to no school closures until 2027. The move comes after the Chicago Teachers Union claimed schools CEO Pedro Martinez was planning for closures.
The resolution, which Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointed school board will vote on at its Thursday meeting, also comes days after Johnson asked Martinez to resign. But in an op-ed for Chicago Tribune published Tuesday, Martinez said he will not step down.
The resolution is worded as a recommendation from Martinez that the board will be asked to approve. But in the Tribune piece, Martinez said both he and Board President Jianan Shi are asking the board to approve the resolution. In a letter to staff and families, Martinez said the resolution has the board’s “enthusiastic support.”
If passed by the board, the resolution would place a moratorium on school closures until the end of the 2026-2027 school year. Currently, state law prevents Chicago from closing schools until Jan. 15, 2025. That’s the same day that the city’s new, partially elected school board will be sworn in.
In an email, Mary Ann Fergus, a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools, said the resolution is binding, “but, of course, it could be reversed by future Boards.”
The resolution goes on to say Martinez has “consistently and publicly stated that he will not propose district-managed school closures, consolidations or phase-outs during his tenure as CEO.” It adds that the board has also been “consistent” about no closures during Martinez’s employment.
The resolution also notes that by 2027, the city will have a fully elected school board. In January, just 10 of the members will be elected, while the remaining 11 will be appointed by Johnson. But in 2026, all school board seats will be up for election.
In a letter sent to staff and families Tuesday, Martinez wrote that the resolution was an effort to “put to rest” what he described as a “misinformation campaign,” although he did not say who was responsible for that campaign.
“I’m disappointed that this misinformation campaign is out there, because I know it has caused unnecessary stress and worry for many in our school communities,” Martinez said in the letter.
School closures are a political third rail in Chicago, where in 2013, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to close 50 schools is still painful for many Chicago residents.
Last week, the union said it had obtained a school facilities analysis that included a list of 70 schools that could be consolidated with 70 others. Citing this document, the union’s House of Delegates passed a vote of no confidence in Martinez.
The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
District officials have staunchly denied that they are planning school closures, and Martinez has said he would not close schools during his tenure as head of CPS.
In a letter last week to staff, Martinez said the school board requested the analysis, and that the district conducted it to help create a five-year strategic plan, which places more focus on bolstering neighborhood schools. Martinez has said the analysis led the board and CPS officials to decide that closures were unnecessary.
Neither the union nor the district have shared the facilities analysis with Chalkbeat.
The board’s passage of a resolution, which in part defends both the board and Martinez, comes less than a week after the mayor called Martinez into his office and asked him to resign.
Tensions between the mayor and CPS became clear after Johnson told reporters that he was unhappy with the CPS budget, which had a slew of cuts to close its deficit.
Johnson’s desire to oust Martinez came after Martinez and the board declined to cover a chunk of pension payments for non-teaching staff, a cost that CPS took on during Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tenure that Johnson criticized at the time. CPS was facing a roughly half-billion-dollar deficit when it covered some of those payments under Lightfoot. The refusal by CPS to cover that cost has helped inflate a city budget deficit.
When the Johnson administration pushed CPS to take out a short-term loan to help pay for the pension costs, as well as the costs of new teachers and principals union contracts, Martinez and the board balked.
In an internal memo obtained by Chalkbeat, CPS leadership said taking out such a loan would be fiscally irresponsible, could result in a further downgrade of its bond ratings, and would worsen the district’s long-term debts. Martinez publicly confirmed those concerns in his Tribune op-ed.
In a Tuesday statement, City Hall spokesperson Ronnie Reese did not directly address the resolution.
“As an organizer, Mayor Johnson fought against school closures and participated in a hunger strike to save neighborhood schools,” Reese said. “His vision for public education in Chicago calls for investments in our students — not layoffs and harmful school actions that have traumatized families and communities across the city.”
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org .
