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A Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that the Chicago Board of Education may not block schools chief Pedro Martinez from doing his job and may not attend teachers contract negotiations without his approval.

Judge Joel Chupack granted Martinez鈥檚 request for a temporary restraining order in a Christmas Eve ruling from the bench, marking another dramatic turn in the power struggle between the CEO and Mayor Brandon Johnson鈥檚 hand-picked board members.

The board on Friday, meaning he will stay on the job for another six months and collect more than $130,000 in severance pay. As part of that vote, the board said it would modify Martinez鈥檚 powers without specifying how.

But on Tuesday, the judge ruled that the Board of Education members are barred from 鈥渙bstructing鈥� Martinez鈥檚 鈥減erformance of his job duties.鈥� They also cannot attend the district鈥檚 high-stakes contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union 鈥� as three did on Monday 鈥� without first getting permission from Martinez, the ruling said.

Board members also cannot attempt to manage any of Martinez鈥檚 staffers, the ruling said.

Another court date has been set for Jan. 9.

鈥淧edro Martinez is still the CEO, and there鈥檚 no question about that,鈥� said Bill Quinlan, Martinez鈥檚 attorney. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have the right to restrict his duties and limit his statutory obligations.鈥�

Jeremy Glenn, an outside attorney representing the Chicago Board of Education, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday鈥檚 ruling.

At least three school board members took the unusual step of without an invitation from the CEO or the mayor. Martinez鈥檚 lawyer demanding board members cease and desist from attending, describing it as 鈥渦nlawful interference鈥� with Martinez鈥檚 authority.

After Tuesday鈥檚 ruling, Martinez told reporters that the current board 鈥� picked by a mayor who is a close ally of the teachers union 鈥� could 鈥渇orce a contract down our throats,鈥� and that CPS鈥檚 negotiating team considered resigning en masse when board members showed up to Monday鈥檚 negotiations and attempted to interfere, For his part, board President Sean Harden said he and others attended simply to support CPS鈥檚 team.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates acknowledged that no one but Martinez is in charge 鈥� and that he should be ready to take the blame if the recent progress stalls in .

鈥淧eople get to say that this contract is being bargained with the Chicago Teachers Union and Pedro Martinez, so we look forward to finally seeing him on Thursday,鈥� Davis Gates said.

Martinez has not attended negotiations. Typically, school district CEOs and superintendents leave contracting negotiations for district bargaining team members with rare exceptions, such as when a deal is nearly at hand.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.  Sign up for their newsletters at . 

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