This story was initially revealed by Chalkbeat. Join Chalkbeat Chicago’s free every day publication to maintain up with the most recent training information.
CHICAGO — Three days after voting to fireside the college district CEO, Chicago Board of Schooling members took the extraordinary step Monday of attending contract negotiations between the district and the Chicago Lecturers Union.
The lawyer for Chicago Public Faculties CEO Pedro Martinez responded with a letter demanding board members stop and desist from attending negotiations, describing it as “illegal interference” with Martinez’s authority.
The back-and-forth reveals how the vote to oust Martinez has taken the ability battle over the nation’s fourth largest faculty district into a brand new, extra public part.
It additionally might sign that Mayor Brandon Johnson and his handpicked faculty board really feel a way of urgency — and maybe see a possibility — to get a deal completed.
The union beforehand referred to as for an settlement by Christmas. Negotiations began eight months in the past and have change into more and more tense.
Board members Olga Bautista and Frank Thomas attended negotiations within the morning, and board President Sean Harden attended within the afternoon, in response to Chicago Public Faculties spokesperson Mary Ann Fergus.
Harden advised Chalkbeat that the board members attended on their very own, with out the route of the mayor, to “observe and be a part of the help” for CPS.
“I, together with the opposite board members, thought it was extremely essential for our group to really feel supported,” he mentioned, including they wished to “be sure that the talks proceed.”
The mayor’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark, and CPS didn’t share Martinez’s ideas on board members attending. However in response to two sources who’ve spoken with the CEO, Martinez was “stunned” to listen to board members deliberate to attend negotiations.
Usually, contract negotiations are left to bargaining groups from the district administration and union.
CTU vp Jackson Potter wrote on social media that it was the primary time board members have attended negotiations since 2012 bargaining was winding down, when then-Board President David Vitale attended. Potter wrote that members attended to assist “each side land an settlement.”
The 2012 contract negotiations led to a strike that attracted nationwide consideration. A former board member who served with Vitale described the context on situation of anonymity as a result of he didn’t obtain required approval from his employer to talk to the media. He mentioned Vitale joined negotiations throughout “a really tense second” as a result of he was directed to take action by then-mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-CPS CEO Jean Claude Brizard. Earlier than that, neither he nor his co-members have been concerned in negotiations, the previous board member mentioned.
“What’s the operate of a board? It’s typically to conduct oversight and accountability and governance of administration,” he mentioned. “Board will not be administration.”
A board member sat in on negotiations on not less than one different occasion, additionally throughout labor strife. Board member Miguel Del Valle attended forward of the union’s 2019 strike.
Martinez — who was not current at negotiations on Friday — continues to supervise the district as a result of his contract stipulates that he’s to remain on for six months if he’s fired with out trigger, which is the route board members took. The decision on Martinez’s firing states the board needs to switch his powers however doesn’t specify how. Martinez mentioned after Friday’s vote that he didn’t know what the board had in thoughts, however he urged reporters to “get to know” his legal professional.
Martinez has clashed with Johnson, a former CTU organizer and continued shut ally, over the right way to pay for the union’s contract calls for and $175 million in pension obligations that the town needs to shift to CPS. He has resisted the mayor’s suggestion for CPS to take out a short-term mortgage to pay for labor contracts and pension obligations. Amid that stress, the previous Board of Schooling — principally appointed by Johnson — resigned en masse in October.
Negotiations have change into more and more tense since Johnson requested Martinez to resign within the fall. The union’s preliminary 700-plus proposal bundle has been pared down in latest weeks in an effort to shut a deal. Present calls for embrace a 6% elevate within the first yr of the contract, hiring extra workers over the lifetime of the contract, and extra trainer prep time in elementary faculties — a difficulty the town’s principals union has taken concern with.
The union believes its calls for would add vital help to varsities and beef up protections for LGBTQ and immigrant college students after President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace.
CPS has not outlined the way it can pay for the contract within the subsequent fiscal yr. District leaders have raised considerations concerning the potential value, pointing to a projected $500 million deficit subsequent yr earlier than the price of labor negotiations.
Johnson gained’t have sole management over who serves on the board for very for much longer. Ten members elected by voters in November will take their seats Jan. 15, becoming a member of 11 Johnson appointees. Johnson has picked 10 individuals for the board up to now. The board might be totally elected in 2027, when Johnson is up for reelection.
Reema Amin is a reporter masking Chicago Public Faculties. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
