CPS Board of Education meeting Thursday to vote on $175M pension payment | LIVE​on March 21, 2025 at 1:04 am

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago’s Board of Education is meeting Thursday to vote on a $175 million payment to the city to cover pensions.

On Wednesday, the mayor called for a special meeting to try and resolve a new contract for the Chicago Teachers Union.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

There’s conflicting information on how that meeting went.

Chicago Public Schools sources dispute an account by CTU President Stacy Davis Gates about what happened in that meeting.

Fired CPS CEO Pedro Martinez was seen walking into City Hall Wednesday afternoon.

CPS Board President Sean Harden was also in attendance.

The mayor also invited his Finance and Budget committee chairs.

The goal was to try to bring all sides to the table ahead of a budget decision Thursday.

“So, today’s conversation, the convening of today’s conversation, was to get both sides of the table to discuss the differences within settling in this contract with just a couple of issues, just to understand that. Today, I got that understanding, and as a part of our conversation, there are pathways to settle those differences,” Johnson said.

Johnson wanted to see the contract settled before Thursday’s vote.

The two sides are close, according to the mayor and Martinez, with three unresolved issues, including teacher evaluations.

The mayor called this a productive meeting.

Both sides are hoping to avoid a teacher strike.

“I see no remote possibility of a strike because none of these areas are we’re just that close. I definitely, you know, you’ll hear it. Mayor was very direct. He wants a deal done today. Hey, I wanted it a month ago. So, join the club. So again, they asked us if we could stay today. I didn’t feel comfortable because, again, this was not a negotiation session. My team is ready to meet tomorrow morning,” Martinez said.

“So, the message to the Board of Education, my message to CPS leadership, my message to the people of Chicago that these issues can be resolved and there are pathways to get there,” Johnson said. “And of course, I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid a work stoppage.”

The mayor said that he would like to see the two sides negotiating Wednesday night and get the deal done.

Davis Gates spoke to reporters, expressing frustration with the meeting and with Martinez, who she accused of being disrespectful to the mayor.

The city is asking the school district to make a $175 million payment to cover pensions.

Without the payment, the city’s budget would be unbalanced.

Johnson was joined by seven senior cabinet members, including his finance and budget directors Tuesday, to lay out options for CPS in its budget battle with the city: at issue is a $175 million pension payment for non-teacher employees at CPS.

The city already made the payment, and now is demanding CPS repay the money before the end of the month.

“We’re recommending a short-term borrowing to serve as a bridge to working out a more fulsome budget solution for CPS,” Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski said.

CPS is in the middle of a five-year plan to assume full responsibility for its employees pensions. During this time, the city is helping the cash-strapped district make those payments.

On Thursday, the Board will vote on an amended budget that calls for paying for teacher and principal contracts, but not making the pension payment, because it doesn’t have the money to do both.

“Well, look, there’s a responsibility the Board of Education has. They have to do both. They have to do both,” Johnson said.

In a report just completed for the Board of Education, a consultant offered numerous options.

Budget cuts were considered “highly challenging at best.”

And refinancing debt, the report warned, could result in “additional interest costs … and thus potential future budget shortfalls.”

The mayor criticized Martinez for not including the $175 million payment in the budget that was passed last August.