Mayor Johnson deflects criticism on school board resignations, argues he’s preventing CPS budget cuts

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is taking a lot of heat after announcing his entire handpicked Board of Education is stepping down. This weekend, 41 of the city's 50 alderpeople signed a letter that warns the resignations will bring "further instability" to the school district. They are calling for a hearing before board members are replaced.

The mayor plans to name new members Monday.

The resignations come after the board didn’t act on the mayor’s plan to take out a loan to deal with a budget shortfall expected this year, or his demand that Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez be removed.

The district also faces huge deficits in the years ahead, and is in contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, where Johnson was an organizer before becoming mayor.

Johnson sat down with WBEZ Education Reporter Sarah Karp to explain his position and why he’s looking to state lawmakers for extra revenue. Johnson started off by responding to criticism that he is being heavy-handed in his demands.

Mayor Johnson: It's not a surprise, Sarah, that the people who are upset with me right now, as we shepherd and transition into this transformational moment … are the same people that watch Black women cry when their jobs were were being taken away from them, and then blame those Black women for the conditions in which Black children were being raised in abject poverty — [and] many of them are tied to administrations that not only closed schools and privatized assets, but shut down public housing, took the dedicated string for pensions and gave it to greedy corporate interests, spent all the money, left me with the bill, and now they're mad that I'm actually doing what I promised I would do on behalf of parents, even though they have left a trail of harm.

Sarah Karp: Some of the criticism coming out is that people see this as a power grab because the new board members’ job will be to replace schools CEO Martinez. I'm wondering if that is your expectation, and if so, why not wait until there's at least a partially elected board in place that could weigh in?

Johnson: So this is about the expression of power that the people of Chicago have wanted for a very long time in this city. And so no, we're not going to continue to ask parents to wait. We’re not going to continue to ask workers to wait. And this certainly is not about one individual or somebody's one job. This is about the thousands of families like mine who rely upon the school district. That's what it will always be about for me.

Karp: That means you still want Martinez to be replaced — sooner rather than later?

Johnson: This is not about a single individual. It's not, and you know, Sarah, I don't discuss personnel issues, not publicly. Now, what this is really about, though, this is about fulfilling my vision for public education.

Karp: If Springfield doesn't come through at the end of this year, does the school district get into a cycle of having to take loans to make payroll for years to come, or will at some point you have to accept layoffs and other drastic measures to balance the budget?

Johnson: I'm glad you added that part to your question because this is not about a loan. This is about investing in our children and not accepting cuts. For too long in this district, that's all that it has done. And 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.

Karp: If that money does not come through by next May, and Chicago Public Schools is facing a $900 million deficit, what happens?

Johnson: It’s a fair question. It's just important to know how we got here. And I think, I hope you know how we got here, right? Because administration after administration, they spent all the money, and so these bad habits that they took on in the '90s, when I was in high school, now they’ve left Generation X with the bill. Go figure. We have limited local options. And as a parent, as a teacher, I'm going to do everything in my power, along with our partners here in Chicago, along with our partners in the Southland. Because here's the thing — it's a question for Chicago. It's a question for the entire state of Illinois.

Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZeducation and @sskedreporter.