Mayor Johnson’s chief of staff says school CEO and board kept 5th Floor in the dark
CHICAGO ( WGN ) — With the fate of Chicago Public Schools' chief still hanging in the balance, Mayor Brandon Johnson's chief of staff is going on the record about the conversations happening behind closed doors at City Hall.
In an exclusive sitdown, Cristina Pacione-Zayas invited WGN to City Hall's 5th floor to, in her words, "clear the air."
— that is going to be completely unacceptable and not going to be something we're ever going to tolerate."
It sounds like you can work with Pedro Martinez going forward – he can keep his job that he can keep his job.
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "I don't know that that's necessarily the case."
In a series of interviews, CEO Martinez has been telling people that back in April, he asked the mayor back to use city TIF funds to pump more money into CPS and that the mayor agreed. But Martinez also says the mayor asked him to take out a short-term high-interest loan to cover additional spending. Pacione-Zayas told WGN News there's more to it.
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "In previous meetings and even in that one he basically came to the mayor indicating that the only way to balance the budget is through cuts and furloughs and furloughs that obviously is a big bright red line for the mayor, that is not acceptable. When we are looking at something as big as a $400 million gap and the first instinct is to cut that obviously says that you haven't done the homework or the full assignment."
But the last school board decided a high-interest short-term loan wasn't the way to go, and over the summer, they passed a budget that shifted a $175 million pension payment to the city and did not include spending for a new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Why did the mayor's handpicked board approve a budget that didn't include a contract for the teachers, a contract for the principals as well as the pension payment, how and why did that happen?
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "I think that's a great question for the board. You do have a situation within Chicago Public Schools where you have a general counsel that serves both the board as well as the school district, sometimes there are inherit conflicts there that I think should be explored. I don't know what type of information they were being provided that helped to inform their decisions."
Was Pedro Martinez influencing – did he take he take over the board essentially?
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "I can't say – again, I'm not privy to what his interaction was with the board."
It sounds like the mayor and the board were not on the same page?
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "I mean, I think it's just a situation where we were not privy to what the board was being shared. And we asked CPS to be forthright about the implications."
How does that happen? That you're not privy to what information the district is giving the board?
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "So if the district is meeting with the board independently, we wouldn't know about that unless it was revealed to us."
To regain control of the schools, Mayor Johnson replaced the board with six new people, clearing the way for them to consider firing Martinez and act on the loan Johnson wanted. Martinez insists that borrowing more is a bad idea. Many Chicago leaders sided with the CEO in the dispute with Mayor Johnson, a former CTU organizer.
Enrollment no doubt has stabilized at CPS but the district has lost 81,000 students over the last 11 years. Why aren't you considering right-sizing why go the transformation route?
Cristina Pacione-Zayas: "I can tell you that we know the devastation of when 50 schools were closed around the city. I think people need to understand that schools are anchors for the community. When those buildings actually shut down, the disruption that happens there goes well beyond the child, their family, their education, the community."
