Measure to keep all CPS schools open heads for a vote at school board meeting

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — All eyes will be on the Chicago Board of Education when it meets Thursday night amid a push by the mayor and teachers union to dump Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez.

The board president said there are no plans to act on Martinez's contract at the meeting. As for Martinez’s pledge to pass a moratorium on school closures, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates told CBS News Chicago the union already proposed such a measure.

“What he’s doing is what he does most of the time: He takes the work of our members, and he puts it in headlines,” she said. “Right now, he is talking about all of the achievements that the district has met.”

She said those include additional nurses and restorative justice coordinators.

“Those things added up to all of the achievements that he gets to talk about,” Davis Gates said. “That’s fine that he gets to celebrate those things, but we would like to share in that celebration.”

Outside of the contract under negotiation, she said Martinez needs to come up with a plan to pay for how the district runs. Davis Gates suggested that he looks to business leaders who have given him a vote of confidence.

The Chicago Board of Education meeting is set to begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

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