All seven members of the board of education for Chicago Public Schools are resigning.
Their expected resignations have paved the way for Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint board members who agree with his goals. Some of his demands for the new board include firing CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, making a contract deal with the Chicago Teachers Union, and taking out a loan to cover a city pension payment and the teachers’ contract this year.
Johnson’s staff confirmed Friday to the Chicago Sun-Times that the board members’ resignations will be complete once Johnson names replacements, which his office said will be on Monday morning.
Deputy Mayor for Education Jen Johnson said the mayor did not fire all seven board members, but rather, an agreement was reached that the time was right for their departure.
“They have done the work the mayor asked them to do,” she said. “We met our shared objectives, and now is the time to transition to the new board.”
In a joint statement from the mayor and school board, they framed the resignations as an agreed-upon “transition plan” ahead of the new structure.
“With the unprecedented increase in board membership, transitioning new members now will allow them time to orient and gain critical experience prior to welcoming additional elected and appointed members in 2025,” the statement said.
Johnson also said this was not a power grab, but about supporting CPS, a historically underfunded school district. Chicago’s attempts to get more money from the state of Illinois were also unsuccessful, as the state has its own budget shortfall.
“This is not about a loan,” Johnson said. “It is about investing in our children and not accepting cuts like for too long in this district. Guess who loses when we cut schools? Black and brown children. I don’t want black and brown children to lose under my administration. In fact, they’re not going to lose under my administration. I’m going to fight for them.”
Raise Your Hand, a parent advocacy organization led by the president of the board, Jianan Shi, before he was appointed, said in a statement it is “deeply concerned” about the resignations.
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“Instead of preparing to build on the historic wins so many of us have fought so hard for, we are preparing to weather a season of extreme disruption in CPS leadership,” the statement said.
Johnson’s office is looking for new members to stay on the board through January, when a new 21-member board will take over.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
