Entire Board of Chicago Public Schools Resigns

  • Chicago Public Schools - Illinois

Incidents

Issues

On October 5, 2024, the entire board of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) resigned, seemingly in protest against pressure from Mayor Brandon Johnson to request a short-term, high-interest $300 billion loan to fulfill the demands of a contract negotiated with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) over the summer.

CTU’s demands went a step beyond pay raises and extra days off. The Illinois Policy Institute broke down some of the most expensive demands, which include:

  • Providing a $2,000 stipend to each migrant student, which would cost $10 to $40 million. 
  • Commitment to making all school buses electric, costing $500 million.
  • The construction of 10,000 affordable housing units, which would cost $2 to $4.7 billion. 

The total cost of the CTU’s demands, which did not end up being accepted in their entirety, would have cost $50 billion over the duration of the contract.

All the while, CPS spending has increased by 97% over the past decade. However, reading proficiency is down 63%, and math scores are down 78% in the same time. 

Between the cost of the final CTU contract and Covid relief funding running dry, CPS faces a $700 million budget deficit next year. Mayor Brandon Johnson intended for the $300 billion loan to close the budget gap. Both the board and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez refused to agree to Johnson’s plan, citing concerns that repayment will lead to further classroom budget cuts down the road and ultimately hurt students.

A Chicago city alderman had the following to say about the mass resignation:

In a press conference Monday, Mayor Johnson compared those who opposed his loan plan to the confederacy, saying:

“The so-called fiscally responsible stewards are making the same argument. When our people wanted to be liberated and emancipated in this country, the argument was, ‘you can’t free Black people because it would be too expensive. They said it would be fiscally irresponsible for this country to liberate Black people. And now you have detractors making the same argument of the confederacy when it comes to public education in this system. These are the people who package these gimmicks, lied to our people, stole money from our people, refuse to pay into the pension system, left the taxpayers with the bill, and for me to fix it.”

Johnson announced six interim appointees on Monday. Four of the six are described as community organizers. Only one has actual classroom experience, and she was both a CTU member and on the CTU contract negotiating team. 

It is not yet known if the interim appointees will continue to serve on the new board, which will assume office in January 2025. The new board will be the first to be made up of both appointed and elected representatives. It will have 21 seats, with eleven filled by mayoral appointees and ten filled by elected representatives. The president of the board will be appointed by Mayor Johnson.