Mayor Brandon Johnson asserted a mandate to “transform” Chicago Public Schools and expand school investments Wednesday when asked to explain his ongoing effort to push CPS CEO Pedro Martinez out of office.
The mayor carefully avoided criticizing Martinez directly when asked in an interview with the Tribune why he called on the school district leader to resign last week. But he professed a need for new direction in the Chicago public schools and said he was “elected to transform this school district.”
“That is exactly what I intend to do,” Johnson said. “We are moving in a different direction based upon what the people of Chicago want. They want me to invest in their children, invest in their communities, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
Johnson and Martinez had largely remained measured in public statements as tensions grew over Martinez’s refusal to close CPS’s budget gap by taking on loans. But both leaders are now more forcefully arguing for their schooling visions ahead of a Board of Education meeting Thursday where Martinez’s future could be determined.
Johnson’s interview with the Tribune Wednesday was his first to focus on Martinez’s leadership since he privately called on Martinez to step down. But as he was asked questions about the tense situation, the mayor repeatedly shifted focus from Martinez to his own aspirations for broad investment in schools and school children.
Asked what about Martinez’s performance he takes issue with, Johnson called for more school libraries and libraries, “basic amenities” that too many children go without. The district needs manageable class sizes and “sustainable community schools” controlled by residents, he added.
“Those are my values, and I’ll stand by those values,” Johnson said. “Individuals and people who are aligned with the values of the people of Chicago, those are the people that we’re going to continue to work with to build a system that works for all of our children.”
In order to avoid cuts Johnson and CTU officials say will imperil the school system’s ability to achieve that, they want the district to take on loans to help close its budget gap of over $500 million.
Johnson asked Martinez to resign after Martinez rejected the loans, according to Martinez. The Board of Education approved a budget in July that did not include the loans, though a majority of board members are now siding with the mayor and plan to amend the budget to add the loans, a top mayoral aide told the Tribune last week.
The disagreement over the loans has grown into a battle over Martinez’s job now intensifying ahead of Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. That tension could come to a head at the meeting, although the board’s public agenda does not currently call for a vote to fire Martinez.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates made a unanimous vote of no confidence in Martinez Monday. On Tuesday, civic leaders like former CPS CEO Arne Duncan and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza joined 24 aldermen to state their support for Martinez in an open letter.
Martinez on Tuesday published an op-ed in the Tribune explaining his stand against “exorbitant, short-term borrowing” and his decision to not resign despite the mayor’s request. He also sent a statement to CPS staff and families declaring he would not close schools.
His opponents, chiefly the teachers union, have cited a list of schools that could be closed compiled by the school district to allege Martinez is weighing school closures. Martinez has resolutely denied the list signals any impending closures and called the accusations a “misinformation campaign.” CPS said Tuesday that the district had explored the possibility of co-locating schools on the list, in a closed session meeting with the board, but the analysis was later abandoned.
A Johnson aide told the Tribune last week such closure plans are “unacceptable.” Johnson worked for the CTU before seeking elected office, and the union played a critical role in his election.
Speaking Wednesday, Johnson touted his ties to the school district as a former teacher, former CTU organizer and parent — the first CPS school parent to be mayor, he added — and said his focus remains “with the families of the city of Chicago.”
But he steered clear of directly attacking Martinez. Asked a second time what Martinez had done to deserve to be pushed out, Johnson again highlighted the mandate he believes voters gave him in his 2023 election.
“I am determined to transform this public school system, particularly for Black and brown children who have been marginalized for decades in this city,” Johnson said. “The hopes and aspirations of people for a very long time has always been to have a mayor and a city committed to investing in children and investing in public education. And that is exactly what I am going to do.”
When asked if the board was aligned with him in his efforts to oust Martinez, Johnson responded that “this is really about being aligned with the people of Chicago.”
“Too many of our children across the city are not getting what they deserve, whether it’s special education services, whether it’s (English language learners) services, whether it’s bus services,” he said, promising to “respond to those demands” for more school investment.
Johnson did not directly answer when asked if he believes the board has reason to fire Martinez for cause. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, argued the board in fact does after Martinez shared a statement with the press Tuesday attributed to the board and CPS that board President Jianan Shi said he had not seen beforehand.
Instead of saying whether the board is with him on firing Martinez, Johnson talked about the “gross disinvestment” in the school district.
“The effect of austere budgets and privatization and those schemes have harmed people,” he said. “We are moving in a different direction. We are doing things differently.”
Johnson also did not directly answer when asked if he trusted Martinez’s pledge to not close schools.
“This is not about a single individual,” Johnson said. “If one person believes that they can transform decades of racism and disinvestment, you should be suspicious of that person. This is about all of us coming together, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m bringing people together — as the city of Chicago has given me authority to do — to invest in our children.”
At the end of the interview, the mayor invoked the families who send their children to CPS schools and the workers who help teach.
“I’m going to have their back,” he said.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com