According to Mayor Brandon Johnson, the entire Chicago Board of Education will resign. On Oct. 4, the mayor’s office announced that the change aligns with a new appointment process, suggesting the need for a fresh start. However, critics argue that the mayor’s office should be held more accountable for this shift.
According to ABC7, Alderman Brian Hopkins, who represents the 2nd Ward, said he thinks the school board members who are resigning need to explain why they are resigning. “For years, we’ve heard the far left of Chicago scream about elected school board, elected school board now they’re getting an elected school board, and yet they want to take it over in a last-minute coup and appoint people. That’s wrong,” Hopkins said.
According to Mayor Johnson’s statement, “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. With the shift to a hybrid elected and appointed Board forthcoming, current Board members and Mayor Johnson understand that laying a strong foundation for the shift is necessary to serve the best interests of students and families in Chicago Public Schools.”
The statement continued, “Together, Mayor Johnson and the Board fulfilled many objectives of the Johnson administration’s vision for Chicago’s public schools, including shifting away from inequitable student-based budgeting, completing the change to a school safety model that does not rely on school resource officers and focusing on Black Student Success.”
The statement concluded, “None of the members leaving the current Board planned to continue onto the hybrid Board, and none are running for election. 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.”
Despite the explanation, speculation and criticism of how the mayor’s office has handled commitments to paying teachers shifted to the City of Chicago by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has surfaced.
According to Scott Beneken, a parent of a CPS student, “If it potentially has ramifications down all the way down to the student level, it would be great to know exactly what happened behind the scenes.”
However, the City Council Budget Committee Chairman, Alderman Jason Ervin, doesn’t think the board’s resignation will spark chaos.
“CPS has to make choices regarding its finances, and if that means they have to borrow resources to make that happen, or make adjustments and expenses to make that happen, that’s their decision,” Ervin told ABC7. “But not paying their pension bill is not an option… They are the board, those people still have to function and operate. I think it won’t have any impact on what’s going on in the classroom, and that’s where we are most concerned about.”
According to NBC Chicago, Chicago CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who is currently under contract, was allegedly recently asked by Johnson to resign
at a monthly meeting in September, but the board did not act on his request.Some resigning board members asked Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to intervene, but the governor’s office said he didn’t have the legal authority to do so.
Johnson is expected to name new board appointees on Oct. 7, who will serve until elections for the board begin in 2025.
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