Chicago Public Schools officials are proposing a self-imposed school closings moratorium until 2027 as a way to fend off what they call a “misinformation campaign” from the Chicago Teachers Union about plans to close schools.
In an email to district staff and families Tuesday, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said he was “reaching out to hopefully ease your concerns about continued rumors of school closings in CPS.
“Unfortunately, the misinformation campaign around this issue is still underway,” Martinez wrote. “So let me be 100% clear — there are absolutely no plans to close, consolidate or phase out any district-managed schools. This simply is not a direction that CPS is considering as we plan for the future of our District.
“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,” he said.
The CTU for the last two weeks has publicly accused Martinez of developing plans to close up to 100 schools to solve the district’s financial shortfall. Martinez has acknowledged an analysis was done earlier this year to evaluate all scenarios but that school closings were never seriously considered.
In an effort to “put this issue to rest once and for all,” CPS and the Board of Education are expected to adopt a resolution at the monthly board meeting Thursday that prevents any district-run schools from closing through the 2026-27 school year.
Martinez wrote that he was “grateful for the board’s enthusiastic support” — an eye-catching statement given that the board, which has the authority to hire and fire the CPS CEO, could decide as soon as this week whether to fire him. Mayor Brandon Johnson, who appointed the board and is a major ally of the CTU, met with Martinez last week to say he wants the schools CEO to leave.
The resolution’s moratorium runs through the rest of Martinez’s contract — if he makes it that long — and several months after the city’s first fully elected school board will be seated. The first-ever school board elections this November will make the body partially elected, with 10 members chosen by voters and 11 by the mayor. New board members will be seated in January.
Notably, the resolution does not protect charter schools from closings.
The resolution also does not hold any legal weight — the district and school board can go back on it at any time. That’s unlike a state law that must be followed and has been in place since 2021 banning Chicago from closing any schools through January 2025.
Martinez has been embroiled in an effort by the teachers’ union to oust him amid collective bargaining talks that have heightened the two sides’ disagreements over how to handle CPS’ financial problems.
Johnson and the CTU want CPS to take on a short-term, high-interest loan to pay for a new CTU contract and a pension payment that City Hall has pushed onto CPS since Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s days. Martinez — with the support of the school board, so far — has refused, and the CTU’s criticism of him has only increased.
The union’s governing body took a vote of no-confidence in Martinez last week, citing concerns with the pace of negotiations and a slew of other qualms, like inadequate support for migrant students, large class sizes and insufficient numbers of educational support staff.
Martinez received support from a group Tuesday that said it represented Mexican community leaders.
Juan Rangel, a former charter school executive, told reporters at a news conference in Pilsen that Johnson was “disrespecting” Martinez by allowing this public turmoil and pressuring the CPS CEO to take on a loan to pay for the CTU contract and pension payment.
“That is just wrong, it’s irresponsible and it’s reckless,” said Rangel, who’s leading a group that’s financially backing school board candidates who are running opposite CTU-backed hopefuls. “Stop trying to malign Pedro Martinez’s reputation.”
Former alderman and now Cook County Board of Review Commissioner George Cardenas called Martinez a “son of immigrants and son of Pilsen.
“Pedro Martinez is a leader for us,” Cardenas said. “He’s someone who’s doing his best, doing a good job academically for these kids. Someone who speaks their language.”