Johnson slated to unveil new Chicago Board of Education picks following Friday's mass resignation

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Following a mass Chicago School Board resignation Friday, Mayor Johnson is set to announce new member appointments this morning.

The mayor will announce new, interim members at an event at Sweet Holy Spirit Church on the South Side at 10:30 a.m.

The announcement has not come without some pushback from City Council members, with 36 of 50 aldermen urging for a City Council meeting to discuss the appointments.

The resignations Friday stemmed from the Mayor's desire for schools CEO Pedro Martinez to resign.

There was also concern about the mayor's plan to take out a short term high interest loan to pay for a new contract for the Chicago Teachers Union.

The appointments will only last for a short time as the board will be partly elected next month by Chicago residents for the first time.

The resignations could be viewed as a victory for the mayor, but, according to David Greising of the Better Government Association, this is also a setback.

“What we see here now is a mayor who really lost control of this board,” Greising told WBBM. “He was pressuring them to agree to a $300 million loan that they wouldn’t agree to, and, instead of being bullied by the mayor to change their minds, they resigned en masse in a public rebuke of the mayor.”

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