Aldermen, including several mayoral allies, blast Johnson over Chicago Board of Education resignations

Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune on Oct 5, 2024

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CHICAGO — At least three dozen aldermen, including numerous allies of Mayor Brandon Johnson, posted an open letter Saturday blasting the mayor’s handing of Chicago Public Schools that led to the entire Chicago Board of Education announcing they will soon resign.

The group of aldermen — including 10 members of Johnson’s leadership team on the council — chastised the mayor’s high-stakes efforts to take greater control of CPS, which include trying to get CPS to take out a high-interest $300 million loan and assume a $175 million pension payment for nonteacher CPS employees. In the letter, aldermen said the idea of the district taking out the $300 million in loans was “not a smart decision” and also praised CPS CEO Pedro Martinez who has pushed back against Johnson’s efforts.

The mayor has been moving to get the seven-member board to fire Martinez and when Johnson announced Friday the full board intended to resign it was viewed as a clear attempt by the mayor to clear the way for a newly appointed board to fire Martinez. Johnson said he intends to name board replacements at a South Side church on Monday.

“There is extreme cause for concern now that those voices have been diminished,” the aldermanic letter stated.

While the wording in the letter directed at Johnson was harsh, aldermen have no say on the CPS matters and public letters are often easy ways for council members to weigh in on matters to look good to their constituents.

A spokesman for the mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The aldermen who signed the letter included Johnson appointees to powerful City Council committee chairmanships and 10 of the 19 members of the council’s progressive caucus, which is Johnson’s most consistent base of support in the body.

The group in the letter demanded Johnson convene a hearing before the end of the month and before any new appointments to the CPS board are made.

“Chicagoans deserve a voice when it comes to decisions that will affect our school system and city as a whole. A School Board full of lame-duck appointees carrying out only a few months of a term before residents get a chance to elect representatives is not what is in our best interest,” the letter said.

The letter made note of the upcoming November school board elections, which mark the beginning of Chicago’s transition to a fully elected school board that will no longer be fully controlled by the mayor. Still, a majority of members will continue to be appointed by Johnson next year and the board won’t be fully elected until 2027.

“With the next School Board meeting scheduled for late October, only days away from the general election, it would be a disservice to appoint anyone without thorough vetting — this is not what we fought for in our efforts for a fully elected School Board,” the letter said.

Aldermen drafted the letter, edited it and collected signatures in less than 24 hours after the “Friday massacre” resignation announcement, Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said.

Villegas said he teamed up with Alds. Nicole Lee, 11th, Silvana Tabares, 23rd, and Maria Hadden, 49th, to lead the effort to craft and build support for the letter.

“It’s our responsibility to say something,” Villegas said. “This is just unprecedented.”

At the center of Johnson’s push to remove Martinez is his demand to the district’s leader that CPS take on the $300 million in loans to cover the $175 million pension payment for non teacher CPS employees. That obligation used to be the city’s until Mayor Lori Lightfoot shifted the burden onto CPS, a move initially opposed by Johnson but now one he is fighting to preserve as he faces a nearly $1 billion fiscal shortfall in 2025.

Martinez has rejected the mayor’s request and passed with the school district’s board this summer a budget that did not include the loans and payment. In their letter on Saturday, aldermen said Martinez and the board “understood the reality of the situation” when they made the decision.

“With federal Covid-relief funds having recently expired for CPS, it is critical that CPS leaders keep the interests of taxpayers and our children top of mind as they make budget decisions that will impact the District for decades to come,” the letter said.

The aldermen also blasted Johnson for failing to secure more money for the school district in Springfield. Illinois General Assembly legislators said the city’s lobbying efforts “focused too much on $2 billion for a new Bears stadium, and not enough on additional funds for CPS and other school districts across Illinois.”

“We must find new ways to work with one another, CPS leadership, and our colleagues in Springfield to achieve our shared vision of fully funded schools for all Illinois students,” the letter said.