Alders say school board resignations bring "instability" to CPS

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A day after Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his entire hand-picked school board would resign , dozens of members of the City Council blasted the recent developments in an open letter.

Following the announcement of the resignations, the 41aldermen wrote, "This is unprecedented and brings further instability to our school district."

"It's not progressive," said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th). "It's not transparent. It's not accountable."

Vasquez, who also signed onto the letter, argued taking out a loan to "cover a gap" is "not solving a problem. You're exacerbating the debt problem."

Amid the uncertainty over how the resignations came about, CBS News Chicago tracked down Johnson at his events to try to get some answers.

Johnson did not respond to questions at his first event on Saturday.

It wasn't until he wrapped up his second event that he stopped to offer some explanation for the entire board leaving.

"This is just merely a transition as we move into the elected portion of our school board," Johnson said.

The move came just weeks before voters, for the first time, will have the opportunity to elect 10 new board members. The mayor will appoint 11. The 21-new member board won't start their terms until January 15, which means until then, the mayor will appoint seven new board members.

"If you are the mayor, why would you put someone on there who's not going to do the things you want to happen?" said Rufus Williams, who served as president of the Chicago School Board from 2005 until 2009.

Still, the City Council members were critical of the situation writing that a board "full of lame-duck appointees carrying out only a few months of a term before residents get a chance to elect representatives is not what is in our best interest."

Sources said the mayor wanted Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to resign. Without a resignation, the board would have to fire Martinez.

At the mayor's third event on Saturday, CBS News Chicago asked if he wanted the board to fire Martinez.

"What I want this board to do is be responsive to the people of Chicago, who voted for me," Johnson said.

Johnson and Martinez have been at odds over a proposal that CPS take out a high-interest loan to pay for district expenses, including teacher raises and pensions.

When asked if he believes the next board appointees will approve the loan he wants, he said, "Well, this is really about not cutting our school districts. Right?

"What this is about, this is about making sure that we don't cut our classrooms."

Williams said the board has the authority to review the district's budget and take out loans on behalf of the district.

In their open letter, the aldermen said taking out a $300 million loan would be "not a smart decision when CPS is already facing a massive deficit and the city an almost $1 billion deficit."

So how did Johnson respond to allegations that he was abusing his power with the mass resignations?

"Well, as mayor of the City of Chicago and as a parent of Chicago Public School students, as well as a former teacher in our public schools, the people of Chicago voted me to transform our school district and that's exactly what I'm doing to do," he said.

Still, the recent developments have left many questioning the state of CPS leadership.

"To have turnover at this point and have a new group of people coming in, potentially having a new CEO, yeah it's a recipe for chaos," Williams said.

After heading to Las Vegas to campaign on Sunday for Vice President Kamala Harris, Johnson will announced his new school board at a South Side church on Monday before heading to London later in the week.