After months of tension, Mayor Brandon Johnson told Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez this week that he wants the embattled schools chief to leave his position, four sources told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.
Martinez did not immediately resign and instead plans to wait to hear from the Board of Education, two sources said. The seven-member board, which was appointed by Johnson, has the sole authority to dismiss the CPS CEO but has sided with Martinez this year in a couple of key disputes.
A senior aide to the mayor said on the condition they remain anonymous that Martinez now “has lost the board.”
Chicago Board of Education President Jianan Shi didn’t answer calls Friday.
The mayor’s office and Martinez have clashed on financial issues. Johnson wants the school district to take out a short-term loan to pay for costs related to a new Chicago Teachers Union contract, which is still being negotiated, and to pay a part of the city’s contribution to the municipal pension fund. City Hall had historically made that payment until former Mayor Lori Lightfoot shifted the cost to CPS because more than half of the fund’s members are school district employees.
Martinez has refused to take out a loan, saying it was fiscally irresponsible, and the board, at least initially, had sided with the CEO. Martinez didn’t include the pension payment in CPS’ budget — a shocking rebuke of the mayor.
But the senior aide said the majority of board members now agree with the mayor that the school district should take out the loan.
In the long-run, the mayor and his allies in the teachers’ union say the state must be held responsible for coming up with more funds for CPS.
While a shakeup at the top of the nation’s fourth-largest public school district wouldn’t come as a surprise — the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ reported last month that Johnson’s administration was laying the groundwork to oust Martinez — it would be sure to have ripple effects.
Martinez spent this week presenting a new five-year strategic plan for the school system and received a unanimous vote of approval from the board on Wednesday — before the conversation with Johnson.
The dismissal of a CPS chief executive in the middle of CTU negotiations would be unprecedented since the Chicago mayor’s office was given control of the school system in 1995.
The Board of Education amended Martinez’s contract in December 2022 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 or 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.
If Martinez were to be dismissed for cause, his contract does not prevent him from filing suit for wrongful termination.