Pedro Martinez at Friday’s meeting where the appointed school board voted for his termination (Photo Credit: Tacuma Roeback).
On the Friday before Christmas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointed school board unanimously voted to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, the leader of the nation’s fourth-largest school district. Under his contract, Martinez will remain in his role for six more months, through the end of the school year, and receive $130,000 in severance pay.
Obviously, I’m disappointed by the board’s decision tonight,” Martinez told reporters after the vote. The visibly emotional Martinez, a product of Chicago Public Schools himself, made clear where his devotion lay despite his termination: to CPS students and ensuring a smooth transition for his successor.
“All I’ve ever asked from this board and the previous board is, if you want to move on from me, just honor the terms of my contract,” he said. “I never question any board who wants their own leader, but it’s important because it’s not about me. It’s important that we have a smooth transition to a new CEO, instead of throwing everything into chaos in the middle of the school year.”
The firing comes at a critical moment for CPS. The district is weeks away from swearing in a hybrid school board with elected and appointed members. At the same time, CPS is locked in contentious negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) over a new labor contract.
Tensions with Mayor Johnson and the CTU
Tensions between Martinez and Mayor Johnson reportedly surfaced in July, when Martinez resisted Johnson’s push for a $300 million short-term loan to cover pension obligations and labor agreements, including the CTU contract. By September, a leaked memo revealed that Johnson expected Martinez to step down by the end of that month. Martinez, however, refused to resign and continued to build support among CPS stakeholders.
Before Friday’s meeting, Martinez filed a temporary restraining order to block his firing, arguing it violated his contract and was against the interests of CPS students and families.
Widespread Support for Martinez
Nearly 700 CPS principals and assistant principals—two-thirds of the district’s school leaders—signed a letter urging the appointed board to retain Martinez. Former CPS CEOs Arne Duncan and Janice Jackson also weighed in, advocating for the incoming hybrid board to decide Martinez’s fate.
Conflict over Martinez’s future reached a boiling point at Friday’s special board meeting at the Coleman Center on the South Side. A group of principals spoke in support of Martinez, while over ten elected officials gave public comments, with opinions sharply divided.
Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps, a former CTU employee and CPS teacher, criticized Martinez’s leadership, particularly on the predominantly Black West Side. “Equity is a basic expectation for any school system, but it has been ignored on the West Side,” Stamps said. “Pedro Martinez’s leadership has left these schools in a drought, and our students and teachers are paying the price today.”
Martinez’s Tenure and Legacy
Martinez’s tenure began in 2021 under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He was tasked with leading the district through the challenges of the pandemic and addressing the needs of thousands of migrant children brought to Chicago from the southern border.
“Leading the system that shaped me has been the opportunity of a lifetime,” Martinez said. “I am so proud of the work that we have done together, from record high graduation rates, record low dropout rates, the strongest post pandemic reading recovery scores among large cities.”
The Path Ahead
Pedro Martinez with supporters after the school board unanimously voted for his termination (Photo Credit: Tacuma Roeback).
In the aftermath of the decision, the Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement outlining its vision for the next CEO. “We need a leader who sees the historic opportunity in front of CPS, Chicago, and the state of Illinois to end generations of disinvestment, reverse the trend of balancing its budget on Black and Brown students, and create a baseline of excellence for every school in every neighborhood,” the statement read in part.
Martinez pledged to finish his tenure with the same focus he started with. “I will work with my team, our district leaders, to ensure a smooth transition at the right time for whoever holds my position next,” he said. “I will continue to push for a fair, financially responsible labor agreement that rewards our talented teachers while continuing to put the needs of children first.”
Below is CTU’s full statement on Martinez’s termination:
“For nearly a year, Chicago educators have been laser-focused on securing a contract that guarantees every CPS student a quality school day, protects recent academic gains, and provides classrooms with the resources our students and families deserve.
Through all of this, CEO Pedro Martinez stalled.
Mr. Martinez put his personal politics, career goals, and media stardom ahead of the needs of our students and their families. As educators, we saw and felt the true impact of Martinez’s lack of leadership up close and personal.
We saw his unwillingness to hire more school nurses for our vulnerable school communities. We saw it in his reluctance to provide the resources for our neighborhood public schools struggling to meet the needs of an expanding migrant population. We saw him struggle to find real solutions for the ACERO families. Regrettably, we saw it at the bargaining table, where he was unwilling to join us in the solution-driven work of locking in many of the academic gains made by our young people over the past three years.
Chicago’s students and their families deserve a fighter as CEO: Martinez seemed willing to put up a bigger fight for his job than he was for the students and families of this city and the funding their schools desperately need. But instead of proactively leading our school district and fighting for full funding of our schools, he always sat on his hands–putting CPS and the ACERO students and families in jeopardy.
As we approach the year’s end and face the realities of a second Trump term in public education, we don’t have time to waste responding to baseless claims made by Mr. Martinez and his high-priced attorneys.
Let’s be clear: battles with former Blagojevich attorneys will not improve the school day for our students and their families, provide resources for our classrooms, or provide protection for our students, staff, and their families.
Now more than ever, Chicago needs a real champion for public schools. We need a leader who is unwilling to accept overcrowded classrooms, staffing vacancies, and failure to meet the needs of special education and English language learning students as standard operating procedures.
The Mayor, Board of Education, and next CEO will have to reorient the culture of district leadership toward collaboration, championing equity in more than just lip service, and providing proactive leadership to fight against the coming attacks and for the full funding our schools need and deserve.
We need a leader to fight with us to reclaim the promise of public education for our city, its students, and their families. We need a leader who sees the historic opportunity in front of CPS, Chicago, and the state of Illinois to end generations of disinvestment, reverse the trend of balancing its budget on Black and Brown students, and create a baseline of excellence for every school in every neighborhood.
We look forward to the road ahead for CPS, and we urge the board and the mayor to step into the leadership gap that the CEO has created and choose a future candidate who understands the assignment.