The Board of Education is required to pass a balanced budget by Aug. 28.
CPS leaders in June pegged the budget deficit at an eye-popping $734 million. On Aug. 13, CPS leaders released a budget plan that they said closed the deficit but they almost immediately faced resistance to their plan from a majority of CPS Board members. Follow along here to see what happens with CPS budget and to learn how the district got here.
CPS board rebuffs budget plan from school district leaders
On Aug. 13 Chicago Public Schools leaders presented a proposed budget to the CPS School Board. The budget do not include a loan and leaders also said CPS would only make a contested $175 million municipal pension payment if the school district gets extra revenue from the state, city TIF surplus funds, or from other local resources. Later that day, 11 of 21 school board members send a letter to the CPS interim CEO saying that pension payment needed to be included in the budget with no conditions. They also wrote that CPS should be able to take a loan if needed to cover costs. They have the votes to block the proposed budget.
CPS budget plan hedges on city pension payment, but some board members are insisting it be paid
The budget CPS leaders presented on Aug. 13 wiped away the $734 million deficit by a combination of mechanisms: cuts to operations and central office, refinancing debt, using $65 million from a reserve fund, counting a philanthropic donation in the budget and expecting $379 million from the city from a TIF surplus. CPS officials say they worked hard to protect classrooms and the student experience. The most contentious part of the plan is a proposal to make a $175 million municipal pension payment contingent on CPS getting additional revenue from the state or even more money from a TIF surplus. TIFs are special taxing districts in the city.
Chicago Public Schools is grappling with a massive budget deficit. Here’s why.
CPS has long had a structural deficit caused by state underfunding. That’s exacerbated now by several big challenges: the end of federal pandemic relief money, which the district used for a hiring spree over several years; rising transportation and building maintenance costs; expensive annual debt and pension payments.
Macquline King was tapped as CPS interim superintendent/CEO in June. After hearing proposed budget solutions from parents, teachers and community members at meetings in July, King warned: “There are no easy answers here, and it’s clear that there are difficult decisions that will need to be made.”
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Chicago Public Schools needs $1.6 billion more from the state to provide an adequate education, records show
New state calculations show that CPS has only 73% of the funding it needs to give students what it deems an “adequate” education. That’s a drop from 79% last year — one of 300 underfunded Illinois districts that saw its percentage drop. The formula defines an adequate education based on things like how many low-income and special needs students a district has, and also what research says about class size and the right number of guidance counselors.
CPS cuts 500 custodians, ends private cleaning contracts amid budget deficit
Throughout July, school district leaders picked away at the deficit, trimming a total of $165 million. Late in the month, came the latest: They announced plans to save $40 million by ending all outsourced custodial work and cutting about 500 workers who clean schools. About 1,250 custodians, all employed by private companies, received layoff notices. CPS said it plans to rehire 750 as district staff to work alongside other in-house custodians.
