Chicago Mayor Johnson sacks the school’s chief for his teachers union funders
The city is in revolt over the move. Chicago City Council members and school principals oppose the mayor’s putsch. Alderman Andre Vasquez called the mayor’s leadership “dysfunctional.” Alderman Silvana Tabares told the school board “there is still a difference between right and wrong, and you know this is wrong.” By following the orders of the mayor who will “personally benefit from a costly union contract,” she continued, “you’re intentionally clearing a way to saddle taxpayers with billions of costs.” All true.
Mr. Johnson has been desperate to oust Mr. Martinez because the schools chief has blocked the mayor’s desire to pay off his benefactors at the CTU. The union wants big raises and more benefits, but the district, with a budget gap of more than $500 million for the current fiscal year, can’t afford it.
Mr. Johnson proposed the district take a $300 million short-term loan to help cover the gap. Mr. Martinez and the original school board refused on grounds it would add to the city’s already unsustainable debt. (Standard & Poor’s has warned the city it could face a credit downgrade.) When the mayor pressured the board to fire Mr. Martinez, they resigned en masse.
Nearly 700 Chicago school principals and assistant principals also supported Mr. Martinez in a letter to the Board of Education. Twenty-one Chicago aldermen signed a letter to the school board saying they “ardently” believed Mr. Martinez is the “logical choice to guide CPS through these troubled times.”
Mr. Martinez was fired without cause so his contract ensures he will stay in his job for another six months, but CTU President Stacy Davis Gates wants a contract before the new board members take office on Jan. 15. Mr. Johnson is now proposing to appoint a “co-CEO” who would serve alongside Mr. Martinez to end-run the chief and approve the CTU contract.
