The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools still have not reached a contract deal. Meanwhile, the CPS Board of Education’s publicly elected members will be sworn in this week, and the district will be on the search for a new leader since the current board fired CEO Pedro Martinez.

In his first interview since the CPS board voted unanimously to terminate Martinez, Johnson said the current board members were carrying out his vision for the nation’s fourth-largest school district.

To fully understand what led the district to this point, let’s go back in time to the spring of this year. Below is a timeline of the major events leading toward CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s termination and upcoming departure from CPS:

CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova, the district’s second highest ranking leader, told reporters Thursday that the two sides remain “significantly” far apart at a time when CPS is facing a financial crisis.

The six-member board on Thursday unanimously approved a measure demanding Acero return any unspent public funding if it moves ahead with the closures at the end of the current school year.

The board is set to meet outside of its typical monthly schedule Thursday in a special meeting where it will take up only a small handful of matters, including a resolution to maintain the seven charter schools Acero plans to close.

“This announcement is not made lightly,” Acero said in a statement. “It is made with compassion and an unrelenting commitment to the individuals we serve. We hope to welcome as many transitioning scholars as possible to our other network schools and manage this difficult transition with integrity, mindfulness and clarity of mission.”

Board president Jianan Shi, Vice President Elizabeth Todd-Breland and fellow members Mariela Estrada, Mary Fahey Hughes, Rudy Lozano, Michelle Morales and Tanya Woods plan to step down from their positions this month.

Voters in the Nov. 5 election will pick a member to represent each of 10 new districts as the board triples in size from its current size of seven up to 21 members beginning in January 2025.

“Borrowing to pay for operating expenses in a business, in a government, etc., is not a great idea unless you know how you’re going to pay for that, because it’s going to come due,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, “speaking as a businessperson.”

Nearly a week after the Chicago School Board approved a new five-year plan for Chicago Public Schools, tensions among CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union are mounting.

As Chicago grapples with a nearly $1 billion budget gap in the coming year, the city shouldn’t count on the state to help fill it. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “read things in the newspaper” about relief Chicago may want from the Illinois government, but at this point that’s not something his budget team is thinking about.

The Chicago Teachers Union is still in the midst of public contract negotiations, and the union said CPS leaders aren’t doing enough about the lack of academic resources. This comes amid concerns over district funding.

Martinez said he has not been told by anyone in the Johnson administration that his job is on the line, and in an interview on “Chicago Tonight” Monday evening, maintained there’s “never been better alignment between our district, our board … the city, the mayor, and I would argue even the unions” as they all know and want CPS to have more money.

The seven-member Board of Education on Thursday approved the district’s $9.9 billion spending plan for the upcoming school year despite criticisms from educators who said the district is relying on staff vacancies to plug its $505 million funding gap.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates spoke with WTTW News about the ongoing contract negotiations.