(Bloomberg) -- In an extraordinary move, the Chicago Board of Education on Friday fired the district’s chief executive, Pedro Martinez, a dramatic development to a months-long feud between him and the city’s mayor.
The board, which was appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, fired Martinez without cause, which allows him to stay on the job for six months and receive 20 weeks of severance, per his contract.
Earlier on Friday, Martinez filed a lawsuit and an injunction against the board in Cook County. The suit claimed that the board has breached its contract with Martinez and that the board is void because members never completed mandated training.
“This is a distraction and a disservice to the taxpayers of Chicago,” William Quinlan, an attorney representing Martinez, said in an emailed statement after the school board’s action.
The termination comes as rumors have been swirling for months about the potential ouster of Martinez, who was appointed by Johnson’s predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, in 2021. Johnson, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher and Chicago Teachers Union organizer, was propelled into office by the powerful support of the labor group.
That’s led to tension with Martinez, who earlier this year refused to take out a $300 million short-term, high-interest loan to help cover the district’s budget gap and the union’s contract demands. The union and the district have been at odds over contract negotiations while the district faces deficits topping $500 million.
In September, Martinez defended the decision in a Chicago Tribune op-ed, saying at the time that Johnson asked for his resignation and he declined.
“We need to find solutions, but, to be clear, I remain against exorbitant, short-term borrowing, a past practice that generated negative bond ratings for CPS and that would likely lead to additional bond rating cuts and higher borrowing interest rates,” he said in the article.
Publicly, Johnson had tried to sidestep the notion that he had been trying to fire Martinez. However, emails obtained by the Chicago Tribune this week show that Johnson’s administration had been discussing firing Martinez in early September.
After Martinez’ column, Johnson overhauled the school board, replacing the members entirely after the previous board, which he also appointed, appeared unwilling to terminate Martinez’ contract.
The union, for its part, has accused Martinez of stonewalling in contract negotiations.
“Until CEO Martinez comes to the bargaining table with real financial answers, he’s delaying the progress for educators and the students we serve. Our schools and communities cannot wait,” the union said in a statement earlier this week.
Few cities have faced more complex machinations with their school district than Chicago. The third-largest city has been mired in disagreement over what’s best for the city, its students and the union for decades. That culminated in 2013, when former Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed nearly 50 schools mainly on the city’s south and west sides.
Martinez had a strong base of support from the city’s business and civic community, which has offered almost unanimous public support ahead of Friday’s meeting. That’s included the Commercial Club of Chicago’s Civic Committee and numerous individual leaders, like former CPS CEOs Janice K. Jackson and Arnie Duncan.
“This is truly a very sad moment in the history of our great city,” said Pete Kadens, an entrepreneur who co-founded Hope Chicago, a nonprofit focused on postsecondary education, before the vote. “The school board is supposed to rise above politics and do what is best for our students and their families and any move to replace Pedro Martinez will be widely viewed as another negative mark on our city’s future.”
(Updates story with quote from attorney in fourth paragraph.)
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