The Board of Education is moving to oust Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez at a special meeting Friday evening, potentially ending a months-long leadership saga that has brought an onslaught of political tension to the school system.
The board placed two voting items on its agenda and could choose to pursue either: Martinez’s termination or a buyout agreement.
The schools chief’s ouster on the Friday evening before the Christmas holiday — with classes having been dismissed for winter break — would make for an extraordinary resolution to the battle between Martinez and Mayor Brandon Johnson. And it would come days before a deadline set by the Chicago Teachers Union to reach a contract agreement.
The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ first reported in August that the mayor’s administration was laying the groundwork to replace Martinez.
Martinez has already fought off two attempts to remove him from what he has called his “dream job” at the helm of the nation’s fourth-largest school system. Martinez said publicly that he rejected Johnson’s resignation request in September, and he did not accept a separation settlement earlier this month.
But Martinez’s hand could be forced this week, with the board prepared to consider items on Friday evening to either approve a settlement agreement or fire him. Sources have said Martinez wanted to stay until at least the end of the school year.
Martinez’s attorney, Bill Quinlan, didn’t immediately comment.
The meeting was announced Wednesday morning and set for 11 a.m. Friday. But the agenda, which is required by law to be posted 48 hours in advance of a public meeting, did not include any votes on Martinez — only closed session discussion of personnel matters. CPS officials and legal experts have said voting items would have to be explicitly listed in order for the board to take action.
Hours later, the board updated the agenda to include the votes on Martinez and moved the meeting to 5:45 p.m. Friday.
The new agenda included a vote to approve a settlement with Martinez and a separate vote to terminate his contract. Either vote could proceed or be postponed, according to the agenda.
The school board has been hesitant to fire him because of language in his contract.
The Board of Education amended Martinez’s contract in December 2022 — in former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s last months in office — to require six months’ notice of termination without cause. During that time, Martinez would continue working and transition his duties to a new CEO. In that scenario, his contract calls for 20 weeks’ severance, which would come out to $138,733. Martinez’s five-year contract runs through June 30, 2026.
If the school board moved to fire Martinez for cause, it would have to cite misconduct, criminal activity, failure to perform his duties, fraud or other wrongdoing. His contract’s 2022 amendment says “any other conduct inconsistent with the CEO’s duties and obligations to CPS or the Board, or that may be reasonably perceived to have a material adverse impact on the good name and integrity of CPS or the Board.”
That decision should be made “in the sole judgment of the Board,” according to Martinez’s contract.
Supporters of Martinez have said that this language gives him the leverage to sue the school district and perhaps even school board members themselves. It was this obstacle, in part, that led all members of the school board to resign in October.
This comes as the CTU is trying to settle its contract by Christmas and is increasingly calling on Martinez to “provide transparent financial information.” The union for months has called for Martinez to be replaced, blaming him for slow contract negotiations. Johnson, the CTU’s staunch ally who rose to office with the union’s extensive campaign support, has not publicly said he wanted to replace Martinez, but his administration and handpicked school board have pushed behind the scenes to do just that.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said earlier Wednesday that Martinez needed to explain how he would handle the financial implications of a new CTU contract, noting that she would not take a deal just to have her members face furloughs or layoffs in the spring. CPS has said it doesn’t have enough money to pay for a new CTU contract.
Gates also raised the prospect again that the school district might need to take a short-term loan to get through this school year without budget cuts.
“This idea that he cannot get a short-term loan is absolutely ridiculous,” she told reporters during a media briefing.
The demand by the mayor’s office that the school district take a short-term loan to fill a budget deficit was the initial breaking point between the mayor and Martinez, who refused, saying it was fiscally irresponsible. But Martinez also did not include money in the district’s budget to pay for expected raises for teachers and principals, who were in the midst of contract negotiations. Nor did he put money in the budget to pay for a pension payment that City Hall had demanded CPS take on.