ps88 Entire Chicago Education Board to Resign Amid Tensions Between Mayor and Schools Chief
All of Chicago’s board of education members announced their resignations on Friday amid tense disagreements between Mayor Brandon Johnson and the chief executive of Chicago Public Schools over the school district’s budget next year.ps88
The move by the seven board members, including Jianan Shi, the board president, comes in the midst of contract negotiations between the school district and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Mr. Johnson, who is aligned with the union, and Pedro Martinez, the chief executive of Chicago’s school district, have clashed over the mayor’s plan to fill a $1 billion gap in the district’s budget.
As part of his plan, Mr. Johnson had proposed a $300 million high-interest loan to cover a $175 million pension for staff members in the district who aren’t teachers, and to cover pay increases for members of the union, among other things.
Mr. Martinez had vehemently opposed the plan, initially with the support of the education board, and did not factor it into the school system’s nearly $10 billion budget for 2025. In response, Mr. Johnson asked Mr. Martinez to resign in late September, according to The Chicago Sun-Times and the local station WBEZ.
The mayor’s supporters have also called on Mr. Martinez to step down, saying his failure to lobby the state for more funding has made him an ineffective leader for Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s fourth-largest public school district with over 325,000 students.
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