CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The head of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) greeted students on their first day of school Monday morning, but it could be his last year.
As CPS CEO Pedro Martinez rang the bell with Mayor Brandon Johnson at McAuliffe Elementary, he was asked about his future with the district. Martinez acknowledged that there's been tension over the budget, but he tried to focus on the positives and touted CPS' improvements in reading scores and graduation rates.
"I'll just tell you what I've told my team and [what] I would tell our parents: I know this school year's going to be our most successful ever," he said. "The amount of resources we invested in our schools, we're building off success."
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates did not join them at the Hermosa elementary school. She appeared at Poe Classical School in West Pullman — and in the editorial pages of the Chicago Tribune.
She accused Martinez of driving the district over the edge of a fiscal cliff, which she said he saw coming with the end of federal COVID relief funds.
Earlier this month, the Sun-Times reported that the mayor is looking to replace Martinez after he declined the mayor's plan to take out a loan to cover a pension payment and a new teachers contract.
Davis Gates criticized Martinez's performance in her Tribune opinion piece. She said he rehired less than half of the 300 teaching assistants that he laid off in the spring of 2024. One in five CPS schools, she added, do not have a library or librarian.
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