Remember when we thought Lori Lightfoot was the worst thing to happen to Chicago?
Good times.
Turns out her replacement, Brandon Johnson, is an even worse mayor than Lightfoot. For over a year, Johnson and the Chicago Teachers' Union have been pushing to take out an unconstitutional loan to cover the Chicago Public School (CPS) district's operating deficit.
Last week, the school board held a vote on the issue and voted against Johnson and the school board.
However, the story is much more dramatic than that, as this thread reveals.
The longest political battle of Brandon Johnson’s tenure as mayor of Chicago came to an end on Thursday.
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
And despite stacking the deck heavily in his favor, the mayor lost.
How did that happen? And what happens next?
Let’s dive in. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XKBJZ9Ahiu
Here we go.
Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have pushed Chicago Public Schools to take out a $200 million, high-interest loan for more than a year – leaving a trail of charred political capital in their wake.
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
Consider what happened instead of support for Johnson’s loan ⬇️
• The…
The entire post reads:
• The entire school board resigned in October.
• CPS CEO Pedro Martinez endured a months-long smear campaign by the CTU, which culminated in his firing just before Christmas.
• A majority of school board candidates who won their elections in November vocally opposed the loan on the campaign trail.
• Johnson’s new CEO, Dr. Macquline King, refused to include the loan in her proposed budget.
• The powerful SEIU Local 73 broke from the CTU and opposed the loan.• A majority of City Council members signed a letter opposing the loan, including staunch Johnson allies like Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Jeanette Taylor.
• Chicago Public Schools’ chief budget officer warned the loan would trigger a “downward spiral” of credit downgrades, higher borrowing costs and cuts.
Recommended
And yet, Johnson persisted.
The mayor’s frustration culminated in remarks at a town hall meeting last week. “You put a Black man in charge of a city and all of a sudden everybody wants to be an accountant,” he said. https://t.co/ItvUB2oqm6
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
Johnson was the guy who said being fiscally responsible is akin to slavery, in case you forgot.
But at the Aug. 28 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, the mayor was poised to finally put this issue to rest.
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
The 21-member school board only needed a majority vote to approve Johnson’s loan as part of its annual budget.
And the mayor directly appointed the majority…
The post continues:
And the mayor directly appointed the majority of members, going so far as to fill one vacancy immediately before the vote.
Here's where the drama really begins.
The board meeting began with fireworks, as member Che “Rhymefest” Smith called out newly appointed board member Angel Velez for his intent to vote on the loan just minutes after being sworn in. https://t.co/MCYpl2Pq72
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
Grab the popcorn.
Those concerns were echoed by Illinois State Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago. https://t.co/AdwaK9uEE8
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
When you lose state Democrats, you've got a problem.
Lengthy debate ensued.
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
The board took its budget vote.
And shockingly, most members went against the mayor, including several members he appointed. https://t.co/7ogjiOXfS9
Hahahahahahaha.
The board voted 12-7 for Dr. King’s budget (and against the loan).
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
Three Johnson appointees voted in favor of the budget: Ed Bannon, Anusha Thotakura, and Cydney Wallace. Another, Debby Pope, abstained.
CPS is the largest municipal junk-bond issuer in the nation for a reason… pic.twitter.com/rJMtFLf9CK
It's extremely rare to see a school board oppose such reckless spending.
Which tells us this was next-level bad.
Thank you to the hundreds of Chicagoans who contacted their board member on this issue over the last two weeks using our Take Action tool. And thank you to the board members who stood up to the mayor and the CTU! pic.twitter.com/DuqgIqTcdb
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
Things happen when people speak up.
The school district avoided disaster with this budget vote. But CPS finances remain extremely fragile. Read up on what the district needs to do to right the ship, why we need a grown-up discussion on Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection for the city, and my thoughts on deploying…
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 31, 2025
The city may have to consider bankruptcy.
— The Mad Moderate (@moderate_mad) August 31, 2025
Heh.
I reminded them that they are elected officials and not to ruin their political careers over the Mayor who will NOT be running their campaigns. I’m glad they listened
— P Rae 4 Congress IL7🇺🇸🧚🏿 (@ChicagoREDP) August 31, 2025
They did listen.
Even common sense prevailed.
— Bob Fioretti (@BobFiorettiChi) August 31, 2025
A rarity these days.
Another urban school system where the kids can’t read and the teachers only care about getting their pension. The education game is SNAFU
— jeffrey michals (@26jerome) August 31, 2025
Yes, it is.
.@ChicagosMayor is just pathetic. https://t.co/wqJeRQHsIv
— CommonSense (@CHI_guy08) September 1, 2025
Truth.
Actually incredible.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) September 1, 2025
Chicago’s corrupt activist Mayor tried to force through a terrible $200M loan to benefit his union allies by firing the CPS CEO & forcing those board members who opposed it to resign.
Only his hand-picked replacements on the board still rejected the loan. https://t.co/xEdpgUiNLA
It is incredible.
Fatigue.
— The Fall Of Rome (@LaCadutaDiRoma) August 31, 2025
“You put a Black man in charge of a city and all of a sudden everybody wants to be an accountant.” Mayor Brandon Johnson https://t.co/PMf8Zq9cV2
The accusations of racism are so exhausting.
This story reminds me there is reason to be hopeful https://t.co/avD13bUwCA
— Baystate Republican (@kandrewgraves) August 31, 2025
There's always hope.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member