(Bloomberg) — All seven Chicago Board of Education members will step down later this month, capping months of escalating tensions between the city and its school district as both face big deficits.
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“Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the Chicago Board of Education are enacting a transition plan which includes all current members transitioning from service on the Board later this month,” according to a joint statement from the city and the board on Friday.
The district is expected to gradually shift from a school board appointed by the mayor to one with elected members starting this November. That changeover was a catalyst for the decision, the statement said. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the resignations.
However, a clash between the school district and Johnson had intensified ahead of the announcement Friday.
Johnson was inaugurated in May 2023 after the relationship between City Hall and the powerful Chicago Teachers Union had been strained for years amid a fight for resources, a dramatic decline in enrollment and the risk of school closures. A former social studies teacher, he was an organizer for the union.
Higher Tensions
More recently, tensions escalated as talks over a new teachers’ contract failed after the last one expired in June. Then, came reports of Johnson urging district Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez to take a short-term loan to pay for rising salary and pension costs. Martinez — appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot — has refused to take on the debt or step down, even though Johnson reportedly had called for his resignation.
At the center of the issue is a $175 million payment the city was expecting from the district to cover pension costs for non-teacher school employees. The district, facing about a $500 million deficit because of expiring pandemic-era aid and rising expenses, didn’t cover those costs.
That missing payment is contributing to a nearly $223 million hole in the city’s budget this year. The district is also expecting budget shortfalls for the next several years.
“In the absence of additional information we will have to see who is instated,” Joe Ferguson, president of watchdog The Civic Federation, said in an interview after the announcement. “On the face of it, this is a further destabilizing event that bears upon both the financial viability of and confidence in both CPS and the city itself.”
A spokesperson for the district said that Martinez and his team are grateful to the school board members. “We understand news that the seven-member Chicago Board of Education plans to resign later this month may concern our families and staff,” the district said in an emailed statement.
“CEO Martinez and his leadership team, principals and staff, remain focused on teaching and learning, continuing the great momentum we’ve seen in students’ academic gains and performance over the past two years.”
–With assistance from Miranda Davis.
(Updates with context throughout including statement from the Civic Federation and Chicago Public Schools.)
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