A Cook County judge ruled Tuesday that members of the Chicago Board of Education cannot participate in union negotiations without Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez’s approval.
Under Judge Joel Chupack’s order, board members also cannot obstruct Martinez’s job in any way nor can they direct CPS staff.
Martinez’s lawyers filed a temporary restraining order after board members showed up to a union bargaining session on Monday, without Martinez’s knowledge or approval.
His lawyers sent the board a separate cease-and-desist letter Monday after he learned members came to the meeting. The document said that the board’s actions “unlawfully infringe on and interfere” with Martinez’s authority as the “sole” representative of the board in negotiations.
The board unanimously voted to fire Martinez on Friday without cause. His contract allows him to stay on the job for six more months.
Jeremy Glenn, a lawyer for the board, argued in court Tuesday that since the board approves the final contract, members are allowed to stay up to date on and participate in negotiations. But under Illinois law, the chief executive is tasked with negotiating the contract, while the board is in charge of approving it, Martinez’s lawyer William Quinlan pointed out.
“My staff needs to know with certainty that I am CEO, that I oversee the day-to-day operations,” Martinez told Chupack during Tuesday’s hearing. “They are worried that the board will say if you don’t do this, we will fire you. They’re worried that the board will pressure them to agree to things in the union contract that are not in the best interest of CPS and our students.”
Chupack agreed that board members showing up unannounced to the bargaining session was obstructing Martinez’s job. His order remains in place until he decides to lift it.
Glenn declined to comment on the judge’s ruling. A CPS spokesperson deferred comment to Martinez’s lawyers. The CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson‘s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During a news conference following the judge’s ruling, Martinez said he and his staff regularly update the board on union negotiations and often seek advice from them. But board members overstepped when they attended the bargaining session.
“What I understand is power dynamics, whether it’s my power dynamic or the board’s power dynamic,” Martinez told reporters. “So they can come in and say, ‘Oh, we just want to help you.’ But in the end, if they’re strategizing, and then they’re going to come out with mandates, how is a CPS employee supposed to handle that?”
“Mr. Martinez will be able to negotiate the collective bargaining agreement in the best interest of CPS and students,” Quinlan said at the news conference. “I think the winner today is the kids who hopefully will have a better agreement and have a better school system.”
In a Monday night statement, the union said the board’s participation helped land “tentative agreements for better health care” but that CPS representatives “obstructed” movement on conversations about addressing racial disparities in teacher evaluations.
“Miraculously, the stonewalling days of old disappeared,” the union said in the statement. “CEO Martinez’s decision to try to tell his bosses — the Chicago Board of Education — what to do sets a dangerous new precedent in our school district. It is just another example of how the CEO fails to understand what his job is and who he works for.”
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said she was disappointed that Martinez believed he needed to take the matter to court, but that she looks forward to seeing him at the bargaining table.
“People get to say that this contract is being bargained with the Chicago Teachers Union and Pedro Martinez,” she told reporters at a Tuesday afternoon news conference, “so we look forward to finally seeing him at the table 10 a.m. on Thursday morning.”
All this comes as a monthslong CPS saga comes to a head.
At the end of a last-minute meeting five days before Christmas, Johnson’s appointed school board fired Martinez, which will keep him in his $360,706-a-year job for six months per his contract. The board said Martinez’s duties would be modified but didn’t explain how.
The board is considering installing Sean Harden — Johnson’s pick for new board president — as interim co-CEO during that six-month period to freeze Martinez out of key decisions, three sources told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.
Successfully pushing Martinez aside before a new 21-member, partially elected, partially appointed school board is set to take over Jan. 15 could clear the way for a union contract, for the district taking out a short-term loan to fill a midyear budget deficit and avoid layoffs or furloughs, and for pushing a pension payment for non-teacher CPS staff onto the school system’s books.
Contributing: Nader Issa, Sarah Karp