The days before winter break provided no vacation from the conflict and drama engulfing Chicago Public Schools.
On the Friday before Christmas, the Chicago Board of Education voted to fire CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. But Martinez will stay on the job he’s held since 2021 until at least June. Martinez has taken the school board to court to try to reverse his firing. In addition, a judge granted a temporary restraining order on Christmas Eve that preserves Martinez’s powers as CEO — for now.
The strife between the school board, Martinez, and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has riveted the city. It’s also generated major uncertainty right before another big — albeit long foreseen — shift for CPS: A new 21-person school board will take over in less than two weeks.
On top of all that, the district and the Chicago Teachers Union are engaged in high-stakes, increasingly fraught negotiations over a new CTU contract.
So where are things headed for CPS? Here’s what to watch for in the coming weeks.
Martinez continues as CPS CEO amid legal battle
Before the school board even notified Martinez of his firing, he sued the board and filed for a temporary restraining order in an effort to preserve his powers as CEO. In response, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joel Chupack ruled the school board cannot interfere with Martinez’s role as CEO. That means school board members cannot attend negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union without his permission, which some did shortly after they fired Martinez.
The next court date for Martinez’s lawsuit and the temporary restraining order is Jan. 9 at the Daley Center. The court has not issued a ruling on other allegations that Martinez’s team has made in their lawsuit, including that the board allegedly did not receive proper training before moving to fire Martinez. According to CPS, board members are supposed to be trained on a slew of topics, such as ethics, the district’s budget, education theory, governance, and staff firings that require a board vote.
Regardless of how long he has left as CEO, Martinez will be in charge as the district navigates some of its most pressing challenges since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include balancing its budget and settling new labor contracts with both the Chicago Teachers Union and the principals union.
New Chicago school board starts governing
Chicago’s new school board will be sworn in on Jan. 15. Ten of them were elected and the rest were appointed by the mayor. It will be the first school board in Chicago’s history with elected members, although Johnson must still appoint a final board member.
As with Martinez, this board will immediately have to tackle big issues like voting on labor contracts and figuring out how to pay for them as a projected $500 million deficit looms. The board will also inherit a new five-year strategic plan, which calls for more children to attend public schools within their neighborhoods.
The new school board is also scheduled for district-led training the week of Jan. 6. A previously scheduled week of training sessions in December for the new board got cancelled. By law, all school board members in Illinois must complete training requirements related to their duties.
CTU contract approval awaits new school board
The bad blood between City Hall and Chicago Public Schools leadership stems in part from souring contract negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union, which is a close ally of the mayor’s.
The union and the district are still far apart on some key issues, including additional prep time for elementary school teachers. Even though the school board has told Martinez that he’s fired, he is still in charge of negotiations on the district’s side until June.
The new school board will likely also have to approve the new contract. Some of its members are aligned with the union and Johnson. Others aren’t. While the board could approve a new deal with CTU through a simple majority vote, a new contract will almost certainly also require CPS to amend its budget — and the latter would require approval from two-thirds of the school board, according to state law.
Budget amendments also require a minimum 15-day period of notice to the public before the board can vote.
That timeline makes it likely that the city’s new 21-person board will be the final entity to sign off on a new contract. During previous contract negotiations, the board has signed a deal and amended its budget to pay for the contract on the same day. If a deal is struck in the coming days, it’s possible the new board members could approve it at their first meeting on January 30.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
