Pedro Martinez named 1st Latino CEO of Chicago Public Schools; former San Antonio superintendent is Chicago native, CPS grad

San Antonio schools Superintendent Pedro Martinez was named as the next CEO of Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday, paving the way for the first permanent Latino CEO to lead the nation’s third-largest district as it navigates a full return to in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the appointment of the Chicago native during a news conference at Martinez’s alma mater, Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen, where she and other officials welcomed him home and touted him as an effective leader during his time in Texas.

Martinez, introduced by Lightfoot as an immigrant from Mexico and the eldest of 12 children, has led the San Antonio Independent School District since June 2015 and previously served as chief financial officer at CPS under former CEO Arne Duncan. Martinez replaces interim leader José Torres, who was placed at the helm temporarily after ex-CEO Janice Jackson’s resignation in June.

Martinez’s first comments included a shoutout to teachers, who he said changed the trajectory of his life as a young immigrant in Chicago, and to the Pilsen churches that welcomed his family. He then pledged to both keep schools open for in-person learning and earn more trust with the Black and Latino families that make up the majority of CPS’ enrollment.

“I know that our children can reach their full potential,” Martinez said. “All of us united, we can achieve that. We can make Chicago the best district in the country. We can not only build on its success, but we can make sure that every child has that access and that opportunity that we know is possible in this amazing city.”

Lightfoot characterized Martinez as “a historic candidate” and touted his success at overseeing San Antonio ISD’s state ratings jump from an F grade to a B. She gave that praise in response to a reporter questioning his lack of a teaching degree or experience in the classrooms.

“You can’t do that without being a gifted leader, (and) somebody who was humble, who was working hand in glove with teachers and staff,” Lightfoot said.

Before the mayor could introduce Martinez, 51, a small group of protesters heckled the announcement, which was made outdoors. One man yelled about remote learning options, while a woman argued with Lightfoot press secretary Cesar Rodriguez about the lack of parents speaking at the event.

The Chicago Teachers Union, an outspoken critic of Lightfoot and the district’s handling of the fall reopening of schools, issued a statement Wednesday saying Martinez “must exceed expectations in a struggling school district.” The union said thousands of students have been quarantined so far this school year and cited a “lagging” COVID-19 testing program, bus driver shortages and flaws in special education services.

Though the union called for collaboration with Martinez, it also pointed out what it described as the “failed strategies” that Martinez employed during his time in the education sector and knocked his former boss, Duncan.

“Families, students and community organizations are empowered leaders now, and have rejected the charter proliferation, the mass firing of Black female teachers, weakened worker protections and top-down decision-making that were hallmarks of his time under former CPS CEO Arne Duncan,” the union wrote.

Martinez on Wednesday said district-union tensions are nothing new to him, but he described the San Antonio teachers’ union as a “critical friend” whom he respects. Still, he brushed aside their previous concerns over in-person learning during COVID-19 and over charter school partnerships.

“We cannot be fighting within ourselves,” Martinez said. “The enemy is COVID. The enemy is the systemic racism we’ve had in our country. The enemy is poverty.”

Shortly after taking the helm at San Antonio ISD, Martinez said, a new Texas law created incentives for school districts to invite charter schools or nonprofits to operate under-performing schools by offering additional funding or fewer penalties. That has been the crux of his feuds with local teachers unions there, which have sued him over one of his district’s partnerships with a New York charter school chain.

But Martinez also said Wednesday that he learned ultimately his district produced better outcomes than the outside partnerships, which is the chief priority.

“I’m not against charter schools,” Martinez said. “I’m very data-driven. I look at results.”

In addition to leading a district through the ongoing pandemic, the new leader will have some central-office rebuilding to do. Several high-ranking CPS officials left the district when Jackson stepped down or have since departed. CPS is also entering a new phase as it transitions over the next few years to being run by a fully elected school board.

The San Antonio school district is much smaller than Chicago — with about 50,000 students compared to more than 300,000 in CPS — posing a potential challenge for Martinez as he takes over for Jackson. But it shares some of CPS’s characteristics, such as a student population that is majority non-white and where poverty is widespread.

He will enter a considerably different political climate, however.

In Texas, Martinez defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning public entities from issuing COVID-19 vaccination mandates. That prompted a lawsuit against the San Antonio district from the Texas attorney general in August, and another one this month. Martinez asserted in a statement that the district had a right under federal equal employment law to implement the mandate.

Martinez, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate who majored in accounting before getting an MBA at DePaul University, does not have a traditional background for an educator. He has apparently never been a classroom teacher and worked in the private sector as an audit supervisor before joining the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He then went on to work under Duncan at CPS, then at a Nevada public school system as superintendent and finally at San Antonio, again as superintendent.

Officials did not disclose Martinez’s pay or other details of his contract, with the mayor saying it has yet to be finalized. So apparently is his start date, which he said will be “around Sept. 29.”