Mayor Johnson campaigns for VP Harris in Las Vegas ahead of interim CPS board announcement

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson spent Sunday morning at churches across Las Vegas, stumping for the Kamala Harris' campaign ahead of his plans to announce a new temporary school board on Monday.

Amid the Chicago Public Schools turmoil, Johnson posted photos to social media, saying "the Black church is the soul of this country and we must show up, turn out and elect our Sister."

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The trip to Las Vegas comes as the mayor is set to announce seven new appointments to the Chicago Board of Education Monday morning.

All members of the current board resigned on Friday.

It all stemmed from the mayor's push to remove CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Johnson wants him out because he refused to take out a short-term high-interest loan to help pay for a new contract for the teachers union.

Messages left by ABC7 for the school board president and multiple board members have not been returned, so ABC7 hasn't heard directly whether the board members resigned in protest or were forced out.

Monday's school board announcement will happen at a South Side church. ABC7 will have live coverage of the announcement.

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The mass resignation of the school board comes as, for the first time, people can vote for members of Chicago's first-elected school board. The mayor's interim appointments would only last for a short time as the board will be partly elected next month.

A group of Chicago City Council members sent a statement statement to the mayor Saturday, voicing their disagreement with his naming of interim school board members.

The alderpersons' letter, which was signed by 36 of 50 city council members, read in part, "the city council must also convene... before any new appointments are established. A school board full of lame-duck appointees carrying out only a few months of a term is not what is in our best interest."

Johnson's office released a statement Friday, saying: "Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the Chicago Board of Education are enacting a transition plan which includes all current members transitioning from service on the Board later this month. With the shift to a hybrid elected and appointed Board forthcoming, current Board members and Mayor Johnson understand that laying a strong foundation for the shift is necessary to serve the best interests of students and families in Chicago Public Schools. Together, Mayor Johnson and the Board fulfilled many objectives of the Johnson Administration's vision for Chicago's public schools, including shifting away from inequitable student-based budgeting, completing the change to a school safety model that does not rely on school resource officers and focusing on Black Student Success. Their partnership also improved special education services, increased charter school accountability in the renewal process and embarked on a new five-year strategic plan that emphasizes continued progress, investing in neighborhood schools and expanding the Sustainable Community School model in lieu of school closures. None of the members leaving the current Board planned to continue onto the hybrid Board, and none are running for election. With the unprecedented increase in Board membership, transitioning new members now will allow them time to orient and gain critical experience prior to welcoming additional elected and appointed members in 2025."

In the meantime, Martinez, who is under contract, has no plans to step down. He said a new school board must find "cause" to fire him.

Martinez issued the following statement Friday to CPS staff, families and supporters: "Earlier today, all seven members of the Chicago Board of Education announced that they plan to resign their positions in the very near future. I want to take this opportunity to thank all seven of these individuals for their vision and their leadership - Board President Jianan Shi, Vice President Elizabeth Todd-Breland, Mariela Estrada, Mary Fahey Hughes, Rudy Lozano, Jr., Michelle Morales, and Tanya D. Woods. I am sincerely grateful to each one of these dedicated, civic-minded public servants who have volunteered their time, their expertise, their experience, and their energy to supporting our system and serving more than 324,000 students. School board members - who are not paid for their work - review thousands of policies and proposals each year and spend additional time researching, asking questions, and offering input before voting on major decisions, including the District's annual budget, and more recently, the District's five-year strategic plan, 'Success 2029: Together We Rise,' which this board approved just 19 days ago. I want to salute these Board members in particular for their steadfast dedication to ensuring greater equity in our system, emphasizing our collective responsibility to improve the quality of education for those who are furthest from opportunity. I want to extend my special thanks to Board Vice President Todd-Breland, who has been a board member since 2019, for her leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath. She worked to restore services and lead academic recovery efforts that have yielded some of the biggest gains among large urban districts. I know that families and staff may have concerns about what this means for the future of our District. Please know that regardless of the makeup of the Board of Education, my team and I remain focused on the work: robust teaching and learning, building on the great momentum we've seen in students' academic gains, and continuing to realize our vision of a District where every student has a rigorous, high-quality, and joyful learning experience.

Earlier this week, Johnson said he did not ask anyone to do anything, but when asked to clarify that statement Wednesday, the mayor was tight-lipped.

"I don't ever discuss personnel issues," he said. "I find it to be highly offensive, irresponsible and raggedy, and I don't do raggedy."

However, Johnson made it clear that all of his leaders must share his progressive agenda to transform public education.

"I was elected to fight for the people of the city and whoever is in the way, get out of it," he said.