They are down to five candidates, and one comes from Mayor Brandon Johnson's office.
Martinez leaves CPS in less than a month. It is up to the new 21 member partly elected, partly mayoral-appointed school board to name Martinez's replacement.
"So we are actively moving quickly through an interim selection process, and aim to have that person in place prior to see Martinez's departure," elected school board member Jessica Biggs said.
Because time is ticking toward the end of the school year, the board will choose an interim CPS chief before a permanent leader is named.
"We think it's important to have continuity for the district, and we're looking for someone who has education, background and experience, we're looking for someone who can work with us on resolving the budget crisis," appointed school board member Debby Pope said.
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Pope and Biggs serve on a superintendent's selection committee.
The interim replacement is down to five people, all with CPS experience. Three 3 are internal CPS candidates, one is a superintendent outside of Chicago, and another works for the Johnson administration. It's been reported the school board president was trying to get support for the mayor's chief of staff, Christina Pacione-Zayas, to serve as the interim.
"She is not one of the candidates that we are considering," Pope said.
Pope said Pacione-Zayas does not have a superintendent's license, a new requirement unanimously passed by the school board for the next CPS leader.
"The board has the authority to amend any resolution by a vote, but there is no interest amongst the board at this time to amend any resolution," Biggs said.
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Biggs said there is no interest from the public. There have been eight community engagement meetings on the superintendent search, with another scheduled for Wednesday night, and Biggs said CPS parents are asking for the same thing.
"By and large folks are saying that they want to see an educator lead our district," Biggs said.
The school board is likely to vote on an interim superintendent at its June board meeting. Members are hopeful a permanent superintendent will be chosen by the second half of the next school year.