The Chicago Board of Education approved a resolution Thursday to pressure Acero Schools to keep open seven campuses the private operator plans to close. But amid an ongoing leadership struggle with Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, the board did not allow him to present his take on what the school district can do.
The proposed closings have led to fierce protests from students, parents and staff who are hoping for Acero to reverse course or CPS to provide a solution. And it’s the latest point of tension in the conflict between Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office and Martinez, which started with a disagreement this summer over how to handle a CPS budget shortfall and led to the mayor trying to oust Martinez.
Johnson has criticized Martinez for not knowing that Acero was in trouble and for not pledging to keep Acero’s schools open despite saying he broadly opposed closings.
Johnson’s newly appointed board members — who replaced the previous board that resigned en masse in October — held a special meeting Thursday to pass the resolution demanding Acero officials come before them at a Dec. 4 meeting. The board also passed a resolution reaffirming CPS as a welcoming district that will protect students from President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration mandates.
After passing both resolutions, the board went into closed session, adding personnel matters to the topics for consideration — a signal that Martinez’s employment could have been discussed after speculation he could soon be fired. The board also hired an outside attorney to represent it. But after four hours behind closed doors, only two board members emerged to adjourn the meeting. They said there were no additional votes to be taken.
Earlier in the meeting, CPS officials were expected to present options under consideration to address the Acero closings. But board Vice President Mary Gardner announced at the meeting that there would be no presentations. At one point, Gardner asked Martinez if he wanted to say anything, but he kept his head down and didn’t audibly speak.
Asked after the meeting why the presentation was pulled from the agenda, board member Frank Niles Thomas said “no comment.”
Acero said it wants to close the schools because of a funding shortfall and a substantial financial deficit projected in 2026.
In a statement Thursday, Acero said it welcomes working with CPS officials to find solutions and said its leaders have met nearly 20 times with the district over the past month. The charter operator said it followed the proper process to announce the closings.
The Illinois Network of Charter Schools advocacy group called the board’s special meeting on Acero “political games” and blamed the closings on rising costs due to the charter’s CTU contract.
“Our hope is that Mayor Johnson and the CTU are willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work alongside INCS, the charter community, district schools and the newly elected Board of Education members,” INCS said in a statement.
In Martinez’s canceled presentation about Acero, a copy of which was obtained by WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, the district planned to make the point that CPS has previously allowed other charter schools to close without taking any action. In bold letters, the presentation said Nov. 1 was the first time the board indicated CPS should deviate from standard operating procedure when it came to Acero, suggesting that it was wrong for them to criticize him for not having a plan.
Charter schools are publicly funded but run by private organizations. Private operators have taken it upon themselves to close 12 of the 25 charter schools that have shuttered since 2013, according to the nixed presentation.
CPS also planned to note that the Board of Education adopted a resolution earlier this year declaring it wants to shift away from school privatization.
The presentation Thursday laid out options for the board to consider, including allowing the seven campuses to close in June and helping students transition to new schools, which is what has been done in the past when charters have closed.
Or CPS suggested providing Acero extra money to keep the schools open through the 2025-26 school year then have the district take over the campuses the following year. The presentation noted the board would have to approve them as district-run schools, and the programming there would likely be substantially different than other CPS schools.
The board also addressed the demand to hold off on making decisions until the new board is seated in January. That’s when the board will expand from seven to 21 members and will include 10 elected members. Some of the current appointed members are expected to stay on among Johnson’s 11 appointees.
“Waiting two months to take action and to have an opinion on the Acero schools would be extremely, in my view, irresponsible to those parents and those families,” member Debby Pope said.
Member Rafael Yáñez also said there is an urgency to take some action because the threat of closure has already caused a lot of anxiety.
“It’s irresponsible to leave behind 2,000 students and families,” he said.