(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Johnson named his seventh and final pick on Tuesday for now to replace the Chicago Board of Education members who all stepped down.
The seven school board members resigned amid pressures over how to close a massive budget shortfall for the Chicago public schools. But at first, the mayor only named six replacements.
Now he says his choice for the other interim seat is Rafael Yáñez. He's a hate crimes investigator for the Chicago Police Department.
Yáñez ran for 15th ward alderman, the seat now held by Raymond Lopez.
“Like all of the board members that we've had and the board members that are coming in, these are people who are deeply tethered and connected to the neighborhoods in which, quite frankly, need bona fide legitimate leadership that will speak to the values of our city,” Johnson said.
The mayor would not discuss the fate of current public schools CEO Pedro Martinez, who has resisted the mayor's pressure to use short-term, high interest borrowing to pay for the pensions and a new teacher's contract.
The school board has the power to hire or keep him.
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