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Shop NowIt wasn’t easy but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally managed to have Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez fired. The previous Board of Education resigned en masse, as a show of solidarity with the fiscally responsible Martinez. The new board, hand-picked by hizzoner, granted his wish Friday night.
Chicago fires Martinez
Even though Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez was officially fired on December 20, he’ll stay on the job another 180 days.
On top of that, the city has to fork over 20 weeks-worth of severance pay. Friday night’s meeting is being described as “tumultuous.”
It’s not surprising that Johnson’s interim Chicago Board of Education would vote “unanimously” to do the bidding of the man who personally appointed them. District 1 Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps spewed out the official story handed to the board by Democrat Mayor Johnson.
“Pedro Martinez was entrusted with the leadership of CPS to bring stability to our schools, and yet schools on the West Side, where I live, remain in constant state of crisis.”
Observers and residents of the district see things a little differently. They call it “a political game with repercussions.”
According to 23rd Ward Alderman Silvana Tabares, “you’re not just firing a CEO. You are intentionally clearing a way to saddle taxpayers with billions in costs and the district and yourselves personally with costly litigation.” That’s not all. “You are being used.” The mayor of Chicago, Tabares declares, “is a walking conflict-of-interest.”
Months in the making
“Attempts to oust Martinez by Johnson and the Chicago Teachers’ Union,” a local outlet reports, “have been months in the making.”
Martinez made the fatal mistake of refusing “to secure a $300 million short-term high-interest loan to pay for a costly teachers’ contract.” He told the Mayor to fund his own pork.
The fight isn’t over for Martinez and his attorney, Bill Quinlan. Ahead of Friday’s meeting, Quinlan sent a letter to each individual board member. In it he “asked members to reconsider terminating Martinez or diminishing his duties.”
Then, to back it up, he obtained a Temporary Restraining Order. They expect to be in court with the City of Chicago for quite a while.
The mayor and his cronies are planning to get cute and appoint a co-CEO to do what Martinez refuses to do. That’s not going to fly, his lawyer warns. It is a violation of the clear contract Martinez has with the city of Chicago.
Ahead of the controversial meeting, “Martinez garnered support from former CPS CEOs, seven new elected school board members, several alderpersons and nearly 700 principals and assistant principals.” It’s not over yet.
