Education
Chicago Board of Education Fires School District CEO Pedro Martinez
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 9, 2024. (WTTW News)
The Chicago Board of Education unanimously voted to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez late Friday, capping off a months-long standoff between the district’s leader and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The unusual Friday night meeting saw more than an hour and a half of public comment before board members went into closed session for an hour and 40 minutes to debate Martinez’s fate. In a 6-0 vote, the board dismissed Martinez without cause, which triggers a clause in his contract allowing him to stay on for a six-month transitional period and receive 20 weeks of severance.
The threats to the CEO’s job drew pushback from elected officials at every level from Chicago City Council to the U.S. Congress, pushback from incoming board members and scores of principals, and last-minute legal action by Martinez’s lawyer. On Friday afternoon, Martinez filed suit against the Chicago Board of Education and its members, seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent his dismissal.
The resolution terminating Martinez indicated “modified” duties during the remainder of his tenure. Asked about that – and about his legal action – at a news conference after the meeting, Martinez said it’s about “operating in good faith … I’m not looking for any personal gain. I love this district – this is my home district.” He did not directly answer whether he’d end his legal maneuvering.
The unusual late-in-the-week meeting, coinciding with the last day of classes before winter break, came after months of tension between Martinez and Mayor Brandon Johnson. At the same time, the district has been negotiating with the Chicago Teachers Union over a new contract. Martinez has consistently resisted calls for him to leave his post and reportedly rejected a settlement offer aimed at pushing him out without legal conflict.
“I remain as committed as ever to help our school community build on their remarkable progress,” Martinez said after the meeting, adding that he was happy the six-month runway means he’ll be around through the end of the academic year. “It’s not about me. It’s important that we have a smooth transition to a new CEO instead of throwing everything into chaos in the middle of a school year.”
Earlier Friday before filing suit, Martinez’s attorney sent the board a letter asking them “not to take any steps to terminate Mr. Martinez or diminish his role as CEO.” Crain’s Chicago Business first reported that Johnson was considering a co-CEO model where Martinez would serve alongside just-approved school board president Sean Harden.
“Any such actions would constitute not only a breach of Mr. Martinez’s contract with the Board, but also the relevant Illinois law governing the Board’s actions,” attorney William Quinlan wrote. “Such action would also be contrary to the interests of the children and families that CPS and the Board serve.”
First appointed in 2021 by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Martinez is a CPS graduate who previously served as the district’s CFO from 2003 to 2009 and led the San Antonio Independent School District before returning to Chicago.
Despite the timing of the board meeting, several dozen people gathered at a regional CPS office in Bronzeville, with a vocal crowd frequently breaking out in applause and cheers in support of Martinez and for keeping open Acero charter schools in line to be shuttered. Several elected officials slammed the board for the hastily called meeting that fell on the Friday before Christmas and while some Jewish Chicagoans were observing the sabbath.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) called it “unusual and frankly inappropriate timing,” while Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) called the process a sham and charged that “the same folks who cried dirty politics are now playing dirty politics.”
Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward), a frequent critic of Mayor Brandon Johnson, called the board members “political hacks … stepping in to do some dirty work”, adding “shame on you guys.” Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) compared Johnson to the Manchurian Candidate and said the mayor’s hand-picked interim board was merely doing the work of Johnson’s “CTU overseers.”
Speaking after the meeting, Martinez said the current board is duly appointed and that he’s never questioned its authority to terminate him – but that he would disapprove if “they don’t do it the right way” and honor the terms of his contract.
Other elected officials who spoke slammed Martinez and urged the board to take action.
Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps (1st District) said while Martinez was brought in to stabilize the district, “stability starts with investments in our schools and in our children.” She called the contrast between crumbling schools in West Side communities she represents with highly rated, updated schools in other parts of town a “tale of two districts.” And Ald. William Hall (6th Ward) told the board that under Martinez’s leadership, Black students have not gotten the resources they deserve, getting prepared for prison rather than a career.
Martinez took umbrage at the suggestion that he’s failed students of color, noting that he graduated from an underfunded CPS school in Pilsen. The district leader said when he visits schools, he sees many students that had the kind of potential he did.
“This is a CPS kid,” Martinez told reporters. “Who do they think they’re talking to?”
The board also unanimously approved a resolution directing the school district to take over five Acero charter schools slated for closure, and look into the viability of assuming control over two others.
“Those children need and deserve your advocacy,” Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) told the board. “Our communities urgently need you to take action.”
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) echoed those comments and slammed the district for not communicating with Acero parents who are fearful their children will have to find another educational home. Ramirez-Rosa said he came away from a meeting with the CPS CEO disappointed: “Pedro Martinez does not have a plan to keep Acero schools open.”
“After months of being ignored by Acero and CPS executives, the Board of Education members heard the voices of parents, students, and educators at these schools,” Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said in a statement after the vote. “It should not have required the outpouring of protest from families and educators or interventions by the Mayor and aldermen for a school district to hold a charter company accountable for its commitment to educating our students.”
Board members also heard public comment on the pending Chicago Teachers Union contract, which the union has pressed for a resolution on before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Calling Trump the “deporter-in-chief”, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter told the board that “we are at a seminal, critical moment, at a crossroads – we can either invest and elevate, secure and stabilize, or cut and run.”
But Chicago Principals and Administrators Association President Troy LaRaviere said he was “deeply concerned” about some provisions in the CTU proposal he said would hamper collaboration between teachers and principals, as well as potentially infringe on local school council authority. LaRaviere said he’s been a strong supporter of the CTU, but that “as it stands, we cannot support a contract that will inhibit student growth.”
In a statement after Martinez’s firing, the Chicago Teachers Union accused the CEO of stalling instead of resolving contract negotiations.
“Mr. Martinez put his personal politics, career goals, and media stardom ahead of the needs of our students and their families. As educators, we saw and felt the true impact of Martinez’s lack of leadership up close and personal,” the statement read.
Martinez said during his final six months, he’ll work to help the CPS bargaining team reach a “fair, financially responsible” that “rewards our talented teachers” while putting the needs of students first.
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
