Pedro Martinez, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, said Thursday he “can’t even imagine the need” for the Chicago Teachers Union to go on strike, saying the two sides are on the way to reaching an agreement amid contentious negotiations.
“Any work stoppage would only disrupt our children’s learning, and given how close together the sides are, it wouldn’t make any sense to do something so drastic,” Martinez said at the January Board of Education meeting.
Martinez spoke Thursday to the newly sworn-in board about the negotiations and ongoing fears at schools of deportation raids as President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on illegal immigration.
The board is made up of 10 members who won their seats during the city’s first school board elections and 10 appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. The mayor has yet to make his final appointment to the board, which will bring total membership to 21.
The teachers union and the district, which have been bargaining for a new four-year contract since April, are “very close to where we need to be,” Martinez said.
The two groups concluded “fact-finding” last week, a process involving a third-party arbitrator reviewing reports by CTU and CPS and issuing recommendations, which both parties can accept or reject. If one party rejects the recommendations, the report is made public, and 30 days after that, the union can issue a 10-day strike notice. The two sides expect the recommendations by mid-February.
Since being established in state law in 2010, the fact-finding process has been used three times. In two cases, teachers ultimately went on strike.
Martinez said he believes the fact-finding process will confirm the severity of the district’s finances. He said the district has minimal reserves, just three days of operating expenses and rising deficits in upcoming years.
“We understand the role of CTU to advocate for their members and to ask for as much as they can,” Martinez said. “Our job in the district is to give as much as we can while making sure the investments we commit are sustainable and affordable.”
Later in the meeting, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates urged Martinez to show up at the bargaining table Friday to settle the contract. She said the union’s proposals would provide more counselors, sports programs and language classes. Cooperation between the two groups is more important than ever, she said, since Trump took office.
“We are close, you said. I take you up on being close and let’s land it,” Gates said.
Finances have in large part kept the two sides from an agreement. The CTU wants higher salaries for teachers and for CPS to hire more educators for underserved schools. CPS maintains that the price tag on the union’s original proposals are too high. The union is asking for a 5% raise for the first two years of the contract, while the district said it can afford only “]4%.
The mayor, who is allied with the teachers union, has also pressured Martinez to approve a $300 million high-interest loan to partly cover proposed CTU demands. Martinez argues that such a loan would irresponsibly saddle the cash-strapped district with debt.
Six members of the previous board, whom Johnson appointed, voted last month to fire Martinez without cause. Just days later, a Cook County judge granted Martinez’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent board members from attending contract negotiations without his approval or block him from the “performance of his job duties.”
‘It’s unfortunate there was a misunderstanding’
Martinez also addressed last week’s incident at Hamline Elementary, where the district incorrectly identified federal agents attempting to enter the Southwest Side school as Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was actually Secret Service agents investigating a threat against a “protectee” in connection with TikTok.
“It’s unfortunate there was a misunderstanding regarding the branch of Homeland Security we were dealing with last week,” he said. “But our school response demonstrates that our system, in partnership with our community organizations and labor partners, is prepared and ready to keep our students and staff safe.”
He doubled down on the district’s statements from earlier this week, saying that after checking security cameras, there’s “no evidence” the agents left a business card. The agency has said the cards identified the Secret Service’s Chicago field office and that the agency went to a residence near the school before stepping on campus. Martinez also said there was no coordination from the agency before officers showed up.
“The important thing is that we made sure that people were not allowed into our school without proper authorization,” he said. “And again everybody, this was an elementary school.”
Trump reversed a policy that for more than a decade has prevented ICE from carrying out immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations,” such as health care facilities, day cares, churches and schools. However, Martinez said the district has provided guidance to staff to not allow immigration officers on school property unless they provide credentials and a criminal warrant signed by a federal judge.
“I want to assure families that the safest and best place for your children is at school,” he said. “Please parents continue to send your children to school so they can receive the education they deserve.”
Negotiations with Acero Schools
At the meeting, board members and other attendees encouraged Martinez to finalize plans with charter operator Acero Schools. The board passed a resolution last year to bail out the charter operator, allowing Acero to keep open seven of its locations next year instead of closing them. CPS will then convert five of the locations into district-managed schools the following year.
The district sent a proposal to the operator “trying to be as financially responsible as possible while still addressing the needs that Acero has,” Martinez said. He said the district is analyzing Acero’s response and that they’re engaged in a “little bit of a negotiation process.” Martinez said he hopes to have updates in a few weeks.
However, parents and staff at Acero said they want a solution now.
“We’re trying to plan our lives,” said Steve McNamee, a special education teacher at Octavio Paz Elementary, an Acero school. “We need to hear in no uncertain terms that these seven Acero schools will remain open through the 2025-26 school year for certain, and we need to hear that now.”
