Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson stepped to new lows when his hand-picked board fired Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez without cause.
Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute Explains on X.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand-picked school board just voted unanimously to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez without cause. Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have been pushing for months to oust Martinez following his refusal to back Johnson’s demand for a $300M high-interest loan to pay for a new CTU contract. The CTU is Johnson’s largest campaign funder and former employer.
Aldeman Silvana Tabares made a very important point in public comment before the board vote. CTU takes in more than $30M a year. But it spends just 17 cents of every dollar on teacher representation. The rest goes toward administration, politics and other leadership priorities. The contract with CPS is what fuels their political machine. The bigger the contract, the more money CTU can give to Johnson and his allies.
As background to this story, Johnson’s initial cohort of appointed board members resigned unanimously in November when Johnson told them to fire CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Johnson sought to terminate Martinez because Martinez didn’t support Johnson’s push to take out a high-interest loan to cover CPS’ $300 million shortfall.
Please note the CTU proposal includes annual raises of 10-12 percent after factoring in cost-of-living adjustments. And the union demands 13,000 new positions despite falling school enrollment.
The CPS leaders say this would push the district’s deficit to $4 billion by 2029. That nearly half of the entire budget.
When Johnson demanded his own appointed board go along with this proposal, they all resigned instead. Johnson’s new handpicked board then voted to fire, without cause, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
When fired without cause, CPS leader Martinez can stay on for 6 months. To get around Martinez in the interim, mayor Johnson proposes a deputy CPS leader, a position that does not even exist.
Q&A With Austin Berg
A national political reporter visiting Chicago to cover preparations for the Democratic National Convention asked Austin Berg “What do you think people outside Chicago don’t understand about Brandon Johnson’s administration?”
Berge gave his 3-Part Answer on X.
1️⃣ The Chicago Teachers Union dictates the mayor’s priorities and allocation of political capital. They are by far the most powerful political actor in city government right now, which means the administration fixates on the demands of a small base of far-left activists. This explains things like the cancellation of ShotSpotter despite community support, the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote on a ceasefire resolution, attacking selective enrollment schools, defending the most radical members of city council despite their horrific behavior, hostility toward ethics reform, and banning schools from hiring cops as security officers. Watch the @illinoispolicy
documentary “Local 1: The Rise of America’s Most Powerful Teachers Union” for the best account of this.
2️⃣ Because of No. 1, the administration is staffed by a relatively large number of people with little to no executive experience, including the mayor himself. This explains a wide range of unforced errors: trying to build a migrant tent camp on toxic land, losing the “mansion tax” referendum, announcing an unpopular proposal for a publicly funded Chicago Bears stadium that was immediately dead on arrival in Springfield, ghosting the Sun-Times editorial board after they refused to hold an off the record conversation, and over/underpaying thousands of Chicago government employees due to clerical errors.
3️⃣ You could elect Mother Teresa or Pericles to be mayor of Chicago and they would still have a difficult time fixing the city’s problems. That’s in large part because we’re the only major city among the top 10 in the U.S. lacking a city charter. This means there are no constitutional checks and balances on authority. No thoughtful delegation of power. And little democracy on issues of citywide importance. This explains why the Council and the Mayor can’t agree on who really has authority over the ShotSpotter deal, why the Chicago Police Department is in compliance with just 6% of the federal consent decree and thus lacks community trust, why City Council is not able to provide a meaningful check on the mayor’s budgeting and forecasting, why Chicago alone holds more pension debt than 44 U.S. states, and why the mayor can sign major deals (Lollapalooza, NASCAR) behind closed doors with no oversight. The best account of this is “The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities” which compares Chicago’s governance structure to other major cities and offers a comprehensive solution set. You can buy the book or listen to our podcast mini-series at http://newchicagoway.com. DM me if you can’t afford a copy and I’ll send you one.
The State of the City
Last year the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago asked Berg to give a talk about the state of the city.
He discussed Chicago history, the city’s problems, solutions, and the main findings in his video “The New Chicago Way.”
CTU History of Anti-Parent Actions
Please note the CTU Has a Long History of Anti-Parent Actions.
The Chicago Teachers Union is the enemy of parents’ rights. It’s efforts to unionize charter schools, push them to the brink of closure and then take them over as typical public schools bears this out.
Step 1: Unionize. In January 2018 – the same year Acero’s unionized employees merged with CTU – former CTU President Jesse Sharkey explicitly admitted his motivation to “undermine further charter expansion,” using tactics such as unionizing and merging charter schools into CTU.
Step 2: Undermine. Later that year, CTU employed its go-to tactic in leading Acero’s teachers out on strike, marking the first charter school strike in the nation and cancelling class for the 7,000 students at the 15 schools.
Step 3: Absorb. After Acero announced schools were closing, current CTU president Stacy Davis Gates claimed she wanted to “save” them by absorbing them into CPS. The school board followed her directive on Dec. 20 and did just that.
Now those charters will no longer exist.
The CPS Budget
The district’s budget is about $10 billion. It’s up nearly 30% increase in five years while serving fewer students.
By 2029 or 2030, the deficit is projected to be $4 billion per year on a $10 billion budget.
The city is broke.
Worst in Class
Johnson is the most corrupt mayor in the nation. And the CTU is the most corrupt union in the nation.
It is a one-two punch with unfortunate kids held hostage for the benefit of leaders who belong in jail.
I can’t help but think Johnson will eventually find jail because history suggests these corrupt politicians eventually get there.
Meanwhile, the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent kids are destroyed in a worst in the nation public school system.
When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?
On November 25, I asked When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?
Chicago slashed 2,103 public safety job but added 184 administrators. The budget deficit is nearly $1 billion.
Openly Rooting for Implosion
I am openly rooting for Chicago and the entire pension system of Illinois to implode.
That sounds harsh bit it isn’t.
There will be no reform until crisis hits, and the sooner the better because those currently collecting unwarranted massive pensions are bleeding the pension funds dry.
The sooner the collapse, the more pension money will be saved for the average Joe.
Meanwhile, please note that In Chicago There’s Under a 50 Percent Chance Police Show Up If You are Shot
Good luck in Chicago getting the police to show up if you are shot, stabbed, a victim of domestic violence, or any number of other serious crimes.
But hey, Chicago hired 179 new community services administrators. How’s that working for you?