With two weeks remaining before a planned vote on Chicago Public Schools’ $9.9 billion budget proposal, Mayor Brandon Johnson has said he won’t accept staff cuts or forgo CPS’ $175 million obligation to contribute to the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.
In an emailed statement Friday, a spokesperson for the administration said that the mayor is “aligned with CPS on the cost-saving measures and operational efficiencies” outlined in the district’s proposal released earlier this week. But, Johnson’s office added, “He is not supportive of cuts to critical support staff. As in previous years, budget amendments may be necessary to address concerns and account for increased costs.”
CPS has separately also signaled the likelihood of a forthcoming budget amendment, to fund expected salary increases resulting from collective bargaining underway with the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association.
The district’s current $505 million projected deficit doesn’t account for those raises – nor its pension payment, according to the mayor’s office. With the added possibility of retaining staff slated to be cut, CPS’ proposed $9.9 billion plan – up $500 million from last year – appears to represent the beginning rather than end of finalizing district finances for the coming school year. By law, CPS is required to have a balanced budget, with operating revenue matching expenses, Chief Budget Officer Mike Sitkowski said at the Board of Education in October.
CPS pension obligations
Regarding CPS’ annual required payment to the municipal pension fund in which its employees are members, the Johnson administration noted the city is already subsidizing what should be a district payment of $289 million this year – the fourth in which CPS has been obliged to contribute, in an effort to disentangle city finance’s from the district’s as it transitions to a fully elected school board.
The city still expects CPS’ payment, but Johnson will seek to eliminate a discrepancy in state policy to alleviate the burden longterm, his administration said. “The City will work with the district and our partners in Springfield to bring CPS pension payments in line with all other school districts in Illinois whose pension contributions are made by the State,” a spokesperson said.
‘Limited options’, much blame
To fill the deficit, CPS has said it made central office cuts, secured new grants, restructured debt and eliminated vacant positions. A spokesperson deferred to the mayor’s office for comment on alternative strategies.
In its statement Friday, the mayor’s office recognized “limited options to close that budget gap,” following the expiration of federal COVID-era emergency relief funds and historical underfunding. A spokesperson added that Johnson views the 2024-25 CPS budget as a “bridge year” that builds on students’ gains while working to secure “long-term fiscal stability.”
CEO Pedro Martinez said Wednesday the proposed budget “very clearly puts teaching and learning front and center where it belongs.” Under a new funding model, CPS will provide every school with core “foundational” staff and “holistic” teachers to provide arts and physical education, as well as a third specialty, such as world language or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, at the discretion of school principals.
“This is a landmark change from prior years, where some CPS schools lacked the resources to hire teachers for these holistic subject areas,” the district said. The mayor’s office called the change “promising,” but said more remains to be done to ensure the budget “aligns with Mayor Johnson’s vision for a fully-funded, equitable school district where all children have the resources that they need to thrive, regardless of their zip code.”
Condemning recent end-of-year layoffs among support staff, the teachers union which spent more than $1 million to buoy Johnson into office, swiftly rebuked CPS’ proposal, as ignoring the “steps necessary to protect progress made in the district” and lacking “a plan to fund a transformational neighborhood public schools.”
The CTU did not respond to a request for comment on what those steps would entail and the funding sources the district has not sought, instead providing a statement accusing Martinez of shirking responsibility by not “aggressively taking on the state’s underfunding of our schools.”
The union, CPS and Johnson presented a united front for lobbying in the spring. But their efforts weren’t successful in securing more funding from state lawmakers, who are not required to provide “adequate” funding to districts statewide until 2027, per a school funding reform passed a decade prior.
“The Mayor’s Office will continue to work with CPS and the Chicago Board of Education to ensure that this budget meets our obligations to the residents of Chicago who need and deserve a world-class public education system,” Johnson’s office said Friday.
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