Saving Grace: new proposed Chicago Schools budget

It was back to school on Monday for Chicago Public School students and controversy has been brewing for the last several weeks in the nation’s fourth largest school system over how to handle a deficit of $734 million and facing new funding challenges on both the federal and local revenue streams; and interim CEO Macqueline King has seemingly done the impossible: crafting a proposed budget that has no classroom cuts, and done so with a combination of debt refinancing, taking custodial services from contractors to in-house governance, central office cuts, a hiring freeze and new revenue including a city based fund surplus from a neighborhood tax incentive program.

In another city, and at another time, King would have been praised but in Chicago with its long history of racial segregation, its love of bare knuckle politics, is not enough for the critics, who are conservatives for the most, who in part have picked and pulled at the proposals, (due for approval by the school board at the end of the month), and they have hammered away at King’s good intentions.

Part of that hellish road is the lack of political will by many in the local leadership community, and state legislatures to tackle the complexities of a large urban school system that is dominated by low income Black and Brown students whose communities have faced historic disinvestment as well as the challenges of harnessing talents to creatively tackle the problems that lie well outside the classroom walls.

In 2018 Chicago schools created a new evidence-based funding formula to define adequate levels of funding to reach established levels and the money to reach those goals using “a minimum ratio of students to core teachers counselors and other central staff, “ according to Chalkbeat Chicago.

Using that formula, CPS needs an additional $1.6 million more to fill a gap of $400 million, much more than what was received last year, and to note not only is Chicago eligible for that amount but also 300 hundred other statewide underfunded districts. 

The good news is that CPS is getting an additional $76 million more as it reaches Tier 1 funding, but, as stated, it is far from adequate, despite it being more than previously thought due to lowered tax revenue and a large increase in English learners.

Reaction has been cautious: “That increase will help schools and students but unfortunately does not keep pace with inflation, the rising costs of operating our schools, addressing capital needs, and proudly serving a greater percentage of students who require more services and programming,” said Mary Fergus, spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools also to Chalkbeat Chicago.

In addition using the same metrics all schools are to be funded at 90 percent adequacy by 2027 but according to WBEZ reporting, the Center on Tax and Budget accountability, “it will take until at least 2034 to reach that level.”

Things came to a head in the last mayoral election with a run from a former social services teacher and organizer from the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, who won the mayoral race, Brandon Johnson, who ran on a progressive ticket and ushered in a new era of Chicago politics coupled with a strong interest in regenerating the public schools.

 

Johnson’s background, however, and his desire to improve the schools along a new path has been met with derision from some, and his earlier efforts to secure a high interest loan from former CEO Pedro Martinez led to a bruising battle of words, and threats, and as city leaders wrung their hands, or gleefully warmed to the ensuing battle, many felt that this was just not just about Johnson, but also for his political agenda.

 

A 26 percent approval rating for the mayor, has further made his handling of the schools, along with the city budget and safety issues a referendum against him, as well as enmity towards the CTU. And in a recent meeting with Illinois state lawmakers Democrat State Rep. Curtis Tarfer said of Johnson, “Part of the reason we are where we are is because of the ineffectiveness and sometimes ineptitude of the fifth floor,” referring to the mayor’s City Hall office.

Among the critics is former mayoral rival Paul Vallas in the 2023 mayoral election, and a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, who in an editorial in the Chicago Tribune said that while King’s plan was good it did not say enough about the financial future of the schools. “It disappointingly avoids structural fixes - guaranteeing Chicago will face a similar budget crisis next year, The plan clearly elevates CTU priorities above student needs.”

Or, does it? Many in the media and across the city expected her to fully embrace, and be a rubber stamp of Johnson, but she hasn’t; and, in one key area she has also sidestepped a high interest loan to help CPS in her proposal, a factor that most believe brought down Martinez.

One sticking point is the $379 million payout payment plan that the district needs to pay to help cover the $175 million pension; and, the District wants the city to pay, fearing that if they don’t get the Tax Increment Financing money, there is an increased risk of a financial cliff, and as WBEZ reported:

“We are telling the city up front that we’re not going to pay this year, but we expect you to give us the money,” board member Emma Lozano said during Wednesday’s board meeting. “I think that we’re dreaming here. That’s not the way things work. And I’m hoping that there is another budget report that’s going to add the payment because I don’t see how this is going to work.”

Going back to the previous incarnation some members of the board are “demanding the school district’s budget include a controversial $175 million municipal pension payment,” in reality a reimbursement to the city.

It’s important to keep in mind that current debt servicing fees are at a hefty $1.06 billion per year and the TIF money cannot be guaranteed with city budget challenges.

This is tough sledding and the resulting donnybrook resulted in a letter from those board members to King further complicated matters in what, for the most part, was a well engineered plan to avoid dreaded classroom cuts.

Included in the demand is that any loan options “should be included as an option to be utilized only in the event it is necessary to avoid further cuts to the classroom.”

“The budget proposal reflects a total of $272 million in cuts, including to the district’s central office staff as well as custodial services, crossing guards, cafeteria staff, and more. Before Wednesday’s board meeting, SEIU Local 1, the union that represents some district custodians, held a protest against job cuts affecting its members. Custodians held mops and chanted “Keep schools clean” in front of district headquarters and decried the cuts, which they said blindsided their union and will result in dirtier school buildings.”  

On the other hand, the balancing act that brought this proposal has some key elements to help students increased money for special education students of $62 million and $7 million for bilingual services, and increased staff for principal, assistant principals, clerks and counselors, among other staffers; and, especially notable is a program to bring students back to school who have been absent for 12 to 18 months and the supportive services they may need. And, in all things considered the result is an $8.43 billion dollar operating budget.

Taking things further afield, Chalkbeat also reported, “At the Wednesday meeting, the district’s chief budget officer Mike Sitkowski said the proposal was informed by input from residents who urged the district to protect classroom instruction, resist more high-cost borrowing for operating costs, and forego the city pension reimbursement. The district is taking on $2.4 billion in new long-term debt to pay for maintenance of its aging school buildings. The new budget proposal includes $556 million in capital expenses.”

That, in and of itself, is a boon to an aging physical plant, despite the debt, and some residents remember when former Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, described many Chicago schools as “crumbling prisons.”

While Vallas and others deride King for not planning for future deficiencies some say dealing with the present reality is fairer to students to not only continue the fiscal reality, but to try and tackle weakened test scores, despite improvements,

The mixed reaction from board members and others suggests that the heavy lifting is not over and the weeks ahead are going to be burdensome.

Can Fact Finder report bring CTU and CPS to a contract?

It’s been nearly a year since the Chicago Teachers Union began negotiations on a new contract, with the old one ending last April, and now there are current requests for higher pay, less restrictive evaluations, and money for more librarians and counselors has not gone unheeded but face budgetary concerns; but, these have been accompanied by dramatic moments, notably the firing of the Chicago Public Schools CEO, Pedro Martinez, and history in the making with the inclusion of the city’s first elected school board members.

The reactions have been varied and have resulted in widespread criticism from former school officials, conservative voices that have aligned themselves against not only the union, one of the most powerful in the country, but also against Mayor Brandon Johnson himself, a former school teacher, and official; and, whose union support helped propel him to office.

In a city where bare knuckled political battles are the norm, it seems that the CTU is in the eye of the storm, with each day bringing blaring headlines and egregious statements, sometimes cagy, and frequently predicting hell and damnation to the other side.

Chicago has the nation's third largest school system, just behind New York and Los Angeles, and for years has been plagued by a tax based funding formula that pitted the haves against the have nots, and has a student population of nearly half Black and half Hispanic student, who mostly have not had the politically backing of local, and even state officials; and, whose classrooms have been swelled by the arrival of immigrant students, many of whom were bussed, with their families, from the Southern Border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a move that was seen by many as a prime example of political gamesmanship.

This has left many teachers, and most administrators, trying to cope with students who have not been in school in months, as their families struggled under dangerous conditions to escape political corruption, and gang violence to the United States; with the challenges of learning a new language and a new country, where often the teachers do not speak that language, most often Spanish; all of which adds to an existing population of students who are not infrequently low income, but often homeless. 

Framed this way, it’s not hard to see why teachers want, and need, more money, plus more resources, plus a more balanced evaluation system that reflects that not all of the work takes place in the classroom.

With the fiscal burden facing not only the city, with its pension funding challenges, there is the fundamental problem of creating a stable school system that faces these and many other issues, to create a strong corps of future employees, in an ever changing, world that demands much from its workforce, than in previous eras.

Enter Pedro Martinez, Chicago raised, and a veteran administrator, whose return to Chicago was a homecoming,and while he has the experience, checkered, say his critics; but, his leadership of this often troubled system had brought him to the unwelcome task of telling Johnson that he did not want to take out a high priced loan to shore up the financial demands of the union; and, in turn this led to some very public spats with not only the mayor but the CTU President Stacy Gates that led to his eventual firing, and a host of subsequent legal battles that kept him as lead negotiator in the battle for the new contract.

After a state mandated factfinder was brought in, much to the surprise of Gates, and Martinez, he agreed with many points from each side, and not only this widespread agreement, but sided with CPS in stating that a 4% pay increase during the first year was tenable and later inching up to 4.5% in subsequent years, reaching a compromise of sorts, and agreeing with the need for 90 new librarians by 2029, and more family engagement coordinators to help with the diverse needs of student families.

Matt Malin, the factfinder, had his work cut out for him, but even the union’s lawyer Latoya Kimbrough agreed that this was one of the best reports since the 2010 law, saying, "Without a doubt The best fact finding report the partners received since it became a part of the law.”

It’s no secret that President Trump wants to abolish the US Dept. of Education, and specifically has said that his goal is “ending radical indoctrination” in American schools, and the rejection of the report, can take all parties back to the drawing board, but also run the real risk of punitive measures from the new administration, and that could result in the loss of much needed revenue for not only low income students, but those with special needs as well.

Martinez has said that he feels the report was, “a very thoughtful and thorough analysis,” and Miguel Perreta, the district lead coordinator, has said, "overall, the report highlights how close we are at bargaining.”

Gates has given support, of sorts, by noting that there is no agreement on everything, but that it is a step forward, and was quoted in the local media as being “dumbfounded" with its largely favorable agreements with union demands.

Both sides have  a 30 day clock, or countdown, and the CTU would be able to notify the district of a 10 day strike notice, which as we’ve seen, might prove an opening for the Trump administration to intervene; and, from what has come down

from the administration, with its myriad of executive orders, that would not be welcomed by either side.

Chicago School CEO Pedro Martinez is fired

In a not unexpected move this Friday the Chicago School Board fired School CEO Pedro Martinez, in a closed executive session, after members of the public both praised and panned him, citing a failure of leadership, but without specific charges; and, most importantly lawyers for Martinez filed a temporary restraining order, that was too late to prevent such a move.

Well known among residents was the reason: Martinez’s failure to agree to a $300 million high interest loan to shore up teacher pensions and a pending contract, which put a target on his back by Mayor Brandon Johnson a former teacher and organizer for the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, and made him a figure of unofficial censure by many within, and without, the mayoral administration, as well as some teachers and principals.

Things had reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, and there has been a sea of rumors of when, if, and even how, Martinez could be fired, with or without cause. And, in the face of that, nearly one-third of local principals had expressed satisfaction with Martiniez and wrote the mayor a letter expressing support.

In an editorial from the Chicago Tribune the authors noted that, “More than 670 CPS principals and assistant principals — two-thirds of the 1,100 in the district — have signed a letter urging the current appointed board to retain Martinez in spite of the ongoing maneuvering by Johnson and his Chicago Teachers Union allies to remove the CEO and smooth the path to a new teachers contract that would cost an estimated $1.8 billion in the first year and more than $9.2 billion over the full agreement.”

In a prescient move, the Tribune noted: “A messy ouster, most likely accompanied by a payout to Martinez (unless the board can come up with some reason to fire him “for cause” since his contract is not up until July 1, 2026) is not in the best interests of the district. Martinez, at least, is attempting to keep taxpayers in mind by trying to hold the line on teacher contract demands that CPS has deemed “unaffordable,” claims the Tribune.

In the letter, it was noted that: “Pedro Martinez is our 9th CEO since 2009. ... Removing the CEO at this time means less guidance and support for principals and teachers until soon the lack of support hits the very people the system is built to serve — the more than 325,000 CPS students.”

“It is my hope the appointed school board will hold off any efforts for change in CPS leadership,” the principal continued, “until they take the time to speak directly to school leaders and hear how any decision to remove CEO Martinez will impact our ability to lead our schools.”

Do it for the kids is a popular tag line from past CEO battles and this seems to be true than, as it is now, and as the editorial board continued: “Johnson, for his part, won’t score any points with principals with this testy response when a reporter’s asked for his thoughts on the letter: “I actually don’t think much of it. ...Nope. I don’t think much of it at all.”

In an earlier attempt, The CPS Board offered Martinez a contract buyout.but local media reported that he had declined the offer.

"Pedro Martinez intends to honor his contract with the Chicago Public Schools and see that the 325,305 students and parents get the benefit of what they bargained with him," Martinez's attorney Bill Quinlan said.

And it was reported that, “According to Martinez's contract, the school board must find cause to fire Martinez.If not, it could lead to an expensive lawsuit,” just the result that we see going forward.

Coming on the heels of that effort, storm clouds were gathering when this was also reported: "We asked you, the board, to play a more active role in our negotiations because the CEO is supposed to be bargaining on the behalf of the board, and he is doing the opposite," Chicago Teachers Union financial secretary Maria Moreno said.

“In October, Martinez spoke to ABC7, responding to criticism that he has no CPS funding plan, and is relying on proposed cuts.He was also asked if he thought the mayor's picks for a new school board could end up firing him.”

"I don't know. I really don't. I'm being sincere," Martinez said. "I will say what's great right now is that, you know, it's very transparent what my contract says."

In what was an important development that led to Friday’s move, “The previous school board was not willing to fire Martinez or secure the short-term, high-interest loan to help pay for a new teachers contract, which led to a mass resignation in October.”

"I did not expect for this to escalate to the way it did," Martinez said at the time.

“Replacing Martinez is reaching new urgency for the mayor, his school board and their allies at the Chicago Teachers Union, who want to land a new collective bargaining agreement before mid-January, when a new 21-member partly elected school board takes over. The union has accused Martinez of being an obstacle to its demands. Just two weeks ago, the board instructed Martinez to settle the contract in the “coming days.”

“Martinez has defended his record at CPS, saying he helped shepherd the district through the latter stages of remote learning, then the return to classrooms and a subsequent nation-leading recovery in reading and math. He also has pointed to a revamp of the district’s school funding formula that activists, including the CTU, have long requested”

It has been widely noted by local media that “contract negotiations have proven to be a chief point of contention

“When the 21-member board takes office in January, with 10 members elected on Nov. 5 and another 11 appointed by the mayor, it might be harder to reach consensus on a CTU contract. Johnson’s handpicked board members are pushing hard to get a deal with the union now, but some elected board members will be opposed to the mayor and CTU.”

“Martinez and his team seem to be unwilling to meet many of the CTU’s demands, particularly around staffing, which they have said are far too expensive for the cash-strapped district that just faced a half-billion-dollar deficit this year. Martinez, like the mayor and CTU, has pushed for more state funding. But there’s no guarantee that comes through after they were rejected last spring and as the state faces its own financial difficulties,” according to both the Sun Times and WBEZ.

Chicago is the fourth largest school district in the nation, and has had decades of student population turnover, high and lows for test scores, and has faced competition from charter schools. It has also had less money due to a tax based system that often leaves it out in the cold, compared with wealthier suburban schools.

A large part of the challenges that it has also faced was with its predominantly Black and Brown population, and the lack of will by some white lawmakers to effectively fund and support it to meet growing modern day challenges has been a constant.

Martinez,a Chicago native, and graduate of CPS, confronted a maelstrom of discontent and dissatisfaction dealing with these, and would have not been able, under the best of circumstances, to turn the schools around to what the students both deserve, and need, after decades of neglect.

Former Governor Bruce Rauner likened the physical plant of many Chicago schools to “crumbling prisons,” and some, especially in the poorer sections of the West and South Sides of the city do fit that description, as painful as it sounds.

Added to student population mix are many homeless children who face outside pressures of where to sleep and eat, much less to find a place to do homework;and, then less than two years ago the district faced a wave of immigration, first promulgated by Texas governor Greg Abbott, who sent thousands to the city and whose parents, as much as their students faced the same problems of the local homeless population, with the added burden of a language barrier, where teachers often enlisted janitors to translate for Spanish speaking students.

Martinez as noted, is the latest of a series of school CEOs that have had mayoral backing, and then found disfavor as they tried to meet the myriad of issues that the system faced, and one, in particular Barbara Byrd Bennett who went to jail in a bribery investigation and “was sentenced to 4 ½ years at Federal Prison Camp,Alderson in West Virginia”; all of which has made most white parents send their children to private schools, either in the city, or suburbia, and has left the CTU and other educators to try and do the best that they can with limited resources. 

For many, the money spent per pupil, seems high, yet there are problems that money alone cannot solve, for example those homeless and migrant students arriving from South America, who in addition to the language barrier, had not been schooled for many months due to school closures in their native countries, and the violence they often faced, and the dangerous journey across the Darien Gap to reach the United States.

Now, halfway through the school year, these challenges will not go away, nor will Martinez whose contract has him remain in place for 180 days be able to turn around and make any substantial changes to counter his critics.

Floating around is a rumor that there will be an addition of a Co CEO or a reduction in Martinez’s duties, but this would be a direct violation of his contract, and would also expose the city to yet another costly lawsuit, and negative national publicity,which would be ripe for an intervention form the incoming Trump administration, and the undesired attention of Elon Musk.

“Moreno has blamed Martinez for dragging his feet to get a deal done. CTU is anxious to resolve the labor dispute before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The union originally sent CPS over 700 contract demands, including a 9% raise,” according to recent reportage.

"CPS still doesn't know how to negotiate with its workers. We want to settle via negotiation, and we have provided a pathway to settlement," Moreno said.

With the incoming Trump administration, Chicago is already a target and previous trash talk about the city, its Democratic majority, violence and school issues by Trump has posited it for his attention.

Already in a recent visit to Chicago the newly, but not yet official Border Czar, Tom Homan, a Trump loyalist said to an approving crowd, that “Your mayor sucks,” and added Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to the same torrent of abuse.

Timing is everything and Johnson timed the firing, with what many have seen as a none too subtle push with his chosen board, before the newly elected school board members begin their term in January.

New South Side school angers many, pleases many

It’s no secret that Chicago is one of the nation’s most segregated cities and the division between North and South sides, while often geographically distinct, are also politically and even psychologically different. These divisions can also become blurred by economic and political power, those who hold it, and those that don’t.

One of the starkest difference is in education, with a system that is mostly financed by taxes, and (where many  students often don’t attend their neighborhood schools), the quest for secondary education has hit a new high with the pending creation of a Near South Side high school, at 24th and State, on the site of a former public housing facility, that has generated support from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public School superintendent Pedro Martinez, which has made it a reality despite recommendations that it threatens to siphon off monies needed for Black schools in the area.

Mayor Lightfoot

These early warnings aside, supporters say that the new housing can be built elsewhere, and local residents and city hall observers are wondering what has caused this much support for a project that is projected to cost $120 million dollars.

Area residents also remember the 50 schools closed by former mayor Rahm Emanuel whose hamfisted closures brought a huge protest, but that, in the end, was to no avail: and, many remain vacant, while others, mostly on the North Side, have been converted to luxury condominiums.

WBEZ, in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times, reported that earlier, “a team of senior officials at Chicago Public Schools privately wanted leaders that the project could undermine those schools and ultimately hurt Black Students.”

Most parents and community activists say that it’s not difficult to see that the new school will have new technology, science labs and performing arts spaces that the old ones lack, and those existing would  be underfunded by CPS, and could be shuttered, further nibbling away at what Emanuel left undone.

These divisions, and past actions, wedded to the present, do not bode well for South Side schools, threatening the future of their mostly Black students.

Some of these same schools are also often under-enrolled by 34 percent less; with Wendell Phillips alone holding a previous year’s enrollment of only 8 percent to capacity, and some fear that this may be the city’s response to solve the issue of under enrollment.

An important aspect: There has been a critical population of Asian American students in the Chinatown area that are willing to travel miles to attend the Thomas Kelly College Prep school, rather than attend nearby Black schools such as Wendell Phillips Academy that are closer to Chinatown, and nearby neighborhoods.

Fueled by fears of violence, unjustified, at best, according to reports, but perception has won out, and Kelly now holds 11 percent of those Asian students. 

Those fears are often combined with a perceived lack of quality in the Black schools, even though there are recent graduates that have been accepted, many on full scholarship, to quality public colleges and universities.

The Sun-Times and WBEZ reporters summed it, by saying, “the new boundaries for the proposed 1,200 student neighborhood school at 24tha and State street captures Chinatown, South Loop, Bridgeport, Douglas and parts of the Near West Side - which include some affluent areas with significant white and Asian populations,” whose residents “have long complained they don’t have a viable neighborhoods to school to send their children to, largely a rejection of mostly Black high schools their kids could attend.”

There has also been a significant increase in the political power of Asian Americans in Chicago and now, “Formerly splintered into multiple wards, Greater Chinatown residents will now be represented by one Alderperson in Chicago’s first Asian American majority ward.”

Grace Lee is the new alderperson, and in her announcement, Lightfoot said, "“Nicole Lee has spent her life expanding and amplifying 11th ward issues and voices,”and “Her dedication to empowering communities and building coalitions is evident in her career and in her involvement in a variety of community organizations. She is the right choice to make sure 11th ward residents are fully represented on the Chicago City Council.”

The response has been overwhelming, and “We are thrilled that City Council has created Chicago’s first Asian American majority ward following months of advocacy by community leaders,” said Grace Pai, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago. for a Better Chinese American Community, Pui Tak Center, and Chinese American Service League.”

“I think representation is really important,” said David Wu, executive director of the Pui Tak Center, who’s also the board president of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community that’s been working toward this establishing the ward. “Really you need someone to push as hard to make sure that the wide diversity of Asian Americans, especially those who are newer immigrants, can gain access to services.”

As author Natasha Warikoo wrote in “Race at the Top”: “white and Asian parents alike will do anything to help their children get to the top of the achievement pile.”

Pedro Martinez is new Chicago Schools CEO

History in the making occurred on Wednesday in Chicago when Pedro Martinez was named as the new CEO of Chicago Public Schools, the first Latino of a school system, the nation’s third largest, with a predominant Latino population.

An immigrant from Mexico he was raised in Chicago, graduated from Juarez School, and earned degrees at the University of Illinois, and De Paul university, so his cred as a hometown boy made good rings true.

In naming him, Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised his commitment to low income students, and mostly Hispanic, from his last post in San Antonio. Yet, he joins a  long list of saints and sinners who have held that post, including the now infamous Barbara Byrd Bennet who became a jailed felon after a kickback scheme from a former employer, to others that seemed, more or less, to warm the seats of their office chairs, interims excepted.

Being the seventh CEO in ten years gives many locals pause to see what, if any skills he can bring to a system beset by racial inequality, poverty, and homelessness, against a public that doesn’t trust the system, its adherents, or the ability to provide a sound education.

Martinez, unlike his recent successor, Janice Jackson, has no education degree, no classroom experience, and earned his stripes on the finance side with degrees in accounting and the requisite MBA. 

In addition, while he did diversify the student population in San Antonio he did so through a partnership with charter schools that were heavily supported both in scope, and support, with a corporate model.

Much of that was supported by graduating from the Broad Superintendents Academy, who many see as taking a business model, as its focus. And, this will undoubtedly make the powerful Chicago Teachers Union cringe, who after winning victories with Lightfoot, still has her, and her appointe, in its sights.

There was also a fellowship in the Public Leadership Project at Harvard University, but this, like BSA, seems thin compared to Jackson, with her solid educational credentials.

While there is a moratorium on charter schools in Chicago, coming into town with that as a stain, will not make his tenure easy. Add to that the sheen of a corporate model, the future battles can already be seen.

From the jump, Martinez faces three immediate issues: the Covid pandemic and how it will affect instruction, and its return to in person learning, the demands from the CTU for protection of its teachers, and staff; the continued need for the so called wrap around services, including nurses, and social workers; and, the budget that allows, at least parity with its suburban counterparts, and declining enrollment, and the decision to close, or even merge some schools.

He has leaned heavily on his personal narrative, but this can only take him so far.  In fact, Alejandra Lopez, president of the employee union in the San Antonio district cautioned, “Don’t be fooled by his personal narrative of growing up as a working class person, because I think unfortunately that can serve as a bit of distraction from what his records shows,” reported The Chicago Sun Times.

CTU has said, in a statement, with a side swipe at the mayor, “Despite having no classroom or in school experience, Mr. Martinez will have to be an independent thinker, a far better partner and collaborator than Mayor Lightfoot,”

He also will face a new 21 member school board, a long sought dream by progressive educators to give a role to parents, but one that was trashed by Lightfoot, despite her earlier promises, as a mayoral candidate, to look favorably, at least, on a hybrid model.

Martinez responded that, “for the last decade, that’s all I've had is school boards,” but affirmed that his allegiance is to the mayor, and, “the support of the city.”

He had a run-in with a school board in Nevada, which fired him, but was later forced to retreat, on a technicality, and hire him back, and later send him out with a six figure salary.

It’s unclear exactly how many Latinx students are in Chicago schools, the Chicago Sun Times approximated that while being one third in 2000, they are half of the district today.

Certainly, the optics of having a Latino also supports their growing political power in Chicago, and also as the recent census shows, people of color are taking a dominant feature in American life.

No one is expecting a honeymoon period for Martinez, and his track record is often uncomfortable reading: facing a possible takeover by the state of Texas if low performing schools did not turn around, he felt he was left with no choice than to partner with charters, reported Chalkbeat, claiming, It left my board and I with really limited options.”

The subsequent partnership with a high school charter, called “the Centers for Applied Science and Technology, or CAST. . .which have an impressive list of university partners, tout internships and dual credit opportunities. . . quickly became a draw.”

Problems arose when these schools adopted “a substantial fraction of their enrollment from wealthier areas outside city limits,” that increased enrollment, as well as “economic diversity but meant some local city students had to compete for seats.”

In Chicago, Martinez will also have to face black parents and their distrust of a system that saw 50 of its neighborhood schools close under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the threatened, but failed recent action to close a high school, and transfer their students to an award winning elementary school, displacing the latter.

Like many school systems across the country Chicago faces using emergency funds from the federal government, but also the temptation to use that money for additional personnel, but fear that when the money ends, which is only temporary, how can they sustain them on a tight payroll?

Inquiries as to Martinez’s salary have not been met by local media.