Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez speaks out after Mayor Brandon Johnson’s school board picks; City Council plans hearing

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez spoke out for the first time Wednesday after all members of the Chicago Board of Education resigned and Mayor Brandon Johnson made his new appointments.

Meanwhile, the Chicago City Council met Wednesday ahead of a now-canceled special meeting in the afternoon, where city leaders had planned to address the recent Board of Education shake up.

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Martinez spoke to ABC7 Wednesday, responding to criticism that he has no CPS funding plan and is relying on proposed cuts. He was also asked if he thought the mayor’s picks for a new school board could end up firing him.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I’m being sincere,” Martinez said. “I will say what’s great right now is that, you know, it’s very transparent what my contract says.”

Martinez told ABC7 there has been a plan in place for months that Mayor Johnson was well aware of. The plan included using the city’s TIF surplus dollars to help fund CPS. Martinez said there a formal ask on April 30 for $462 million dollars in TIF funding to pay for pensions and union contracts, including one for the teachers union that included 4% raises.

“At that time, we didn’t get an answer. We continued to ask. Eventually what we were told over the summer was that instead they wanted us to take out a loan,” Martinez said. “I was making a case to really solidify more TIF funding. I was surprised. So was our board. The response was instead borrow, and of course everything since then.”

The previous school board was not willing to fire CPS CEO Pedro Martinez or secure a short term, high interest loan to help pay for a new teachers’ contract, which led to their mass resignation last week.

“I did not expect for this to escalate to the way it did,” Martinez said.

Using TIF funds is the same idea the Chicago Teachers Union presented in plan Wednesday.

The Chicago Teachers Union, community leaders and CPS parents gathered near City Hall earlier Wednesday to propose what they are calling the “Revenue Recovery Package.”

CTU leaders said the plan provides more than $1 billion in immediate revenue for city schools by redirecting TIF funds from developers to CPS.

First District Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps said it’s the city’s collective responsibility to care for children across Chicago.

“What’s happening within Chicago Public Schools isn’t the responsibility of the Chicago Teachers Union, or CPS or parents. It’s all of our responsibility,” Stamps said. “How our children get educated in this city because whether you want to believe it or not, they are all our children.”

The mayor now says Martinez is taking a page from their playbook.

“Whatever is there that we can surplus, I’ve made a commitment. Those are my values. That’s not something that anybody had to call for me to do,” Johnson said.

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Meanwhile, multiple City Council members said Wednesday they have been working with the mayor’s office to have the outgoing and incoming board members appear at a hearing before the education committee to answer questions.

City Council was supposed to hold special committee hearing Wednesday to hear from the mayor’s six new board picks.

“We still have questions, process matter, how you do things matter and we need to make sure there is stability,” Ald. Maria Hadden said.

The special meeting was canceled. It will be held later in the month as an Education Committee Hearing.

At a future education meeting, City Council members want to question the mayor’s nominees appointed to be on the CPS board.

“Right now we want to know about their biographies, we want to know about their mindsets, we want to know what they are bringing to the board as individuals and as a collective,” 15th Ward Alderman Ray Lopez said. “We know very little about these individuals and as a collective.”

So, the agreement was to have the new appointed board members to come to a meeting and also we talk about the budget,” said 15th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor, Education Committee Chairman.

The agreement was made with the mayor’s office, but before adjourning the regular City Council meeting Wednesday, Johnson made no guarantee the new school board members will show up.

The mayor said the new school members are invited. He has no plans use his executive authority to make sure they attend. Alderpersons say they may subpoena the members, but the city’s law department insists the Education Committee has no subpoena power.