Chicago school board members voice concern about school budget cuts and debate state funding resolution

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools. Chicago Public Schools’ newly released, leaner campus budgets cast a shadow over a Wednesday meeting of the school board when members debated a resolution calling on state lawmakers to steer more money to schools. Several board members invoked the proposed budgets in arguing for the resolution, which would push legislators to explore progressive sources of new revenue that could buttress school district budgets. But other members questioned whether passing a resolution would be an effective way to make the district’s case in Springfield, where lawmakers have signalled skepticism that the state can help more amid its own intense budget pressures. Earlier in the day, a half dozen board members aligned with Mayor Brandon Johnson also held a press conference calling on state lawmakers to send more dollars to schools and taking aim at a “megaprojects” economic development bill Johnson has vocally opposed. They argued that the proposal, which would back a new Arlington Heights stadium for the Chicago Bears football team, would siphon resources away from schools. A statement from these members called the district’s planned cuts “severe.” During the meeting’s public comments section, district officials got an earful from labor leaders on the proposed school budgets. Kia Banks, who leads the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, said the union will fight assistant principal cuts and other reductions. She said many school leaders were taken aback by their budgets after delays in their release. “What we saw was disappointing, frustrating, and sad, and it’s actually self-defeating,” she said, arguing leaner budgets could spur more families to leave the district. District leaders sent school budgets to principals Tuesday that district officials said would increase special education funding but reduce some teacher, administrative, and support staff positions. Officials would not say by how much funding they are steering directly to school is shrinking compared with last year or how many positions overall might be cut. But in a memo to school board members, district officials estimated that the school budget shifts would make a $96 million dent in a CPS deficit leaders have pegged at $732 million. The district is eliminating assistant principals at schools with fewer than 250 students and slightly increasing the student-teacher ratios it uses to allocate teachers to school. Some schools will also likely see reductions in academic interventionists , instructional coaches, and other roles. CPS leaders presented the changes as a responsible response to the moment: The district added almost 10,000 educators, support staff, and other positions since 2019 as enrollment plunged by 45,000 students. The budget swelled by some $2.6 billion, to more than $10 billion, in the same period. The federal COVID aid that in part powered that increase is now gone, and the $1 billion in additional state revenue CPS received in recent years still leaves the district well short of the state’s calculation for “adequate” funding. Board members debate funding resolution At the Wednesday meeting to review the agenda for the board’s regular meeting later this month, some board members argued that the state funding resolution introduced by member Anusha Thotakura was an answer to the district’s precarious fiscal moment. Thotakura said she had worked on bringing it in front of the board for months — and this month’s timing could not be more apt. She said facing a gaping deficit and “drastic cuts” felt like a “recurring nightmare,” with no progress in securing additional state funding. She cited proposals to raise taxes on wealthy Illinoisans or large corporations as examples of progressive solutions to the state — and district’s — fiscal woes. “The purpose of this resolution is to bring attention to the needs of our students and, while there are only a few weeks of the legislative session in Springfield, to show a united front and a force among us as leaders in Chicago that we want progressive revenue to support our students and their families,” Thotakura said. She added, “In this final stretch, we have to do more.” Said board member Jitu Brown: “United, we can shake what we need from Springfield.” But other board members said that although they might agree with the spirit of the resolution, it would do little to further the district’s Springfield agenda. One board member, Jenni Custer, voiced disappointment that the board had never voted on a clear, unified legislative agenda for this spring’s session. She decried governing by resolution instead. Board member Ellen Rosenfeld agreed, calling board resolutions “performative governance.” She said everything has to be on the table to solve the district’s structural deficit, from lobbying the state to possible furloughs for CPS staff, which she said would save millions of dollars per day. “Resolutions really have little to no long-term implications,” she said. She added, “Going down to Springfield and yelling at them and telling them what we’ve told them already doesn’t seem to be that effective.” Labor leaders bash school budgets At the same time, labor leaders who addressed the board signalled their members are keeping track of how board members navigate the fiscal challenges ahead of historic school board races this fall. Banks of the principals union noted that all 21 seats on the school board will be up for grabs in November, and pointed to a recent survey, in which the union’s members said a key criteria to support board candidates would be their ability to line up additional revenue for the district. Stacy Davis Gates, the head of the Chicago Teachers Union, also called on district leaders and board members to step up efforts to bring in more city and state revenue. She questioned the district’s decision to assume just $100 million in revenue from a special property tax program to spur development, just a fifth of what CPS received last year — and said CPS should be actively working to ensure more robust support. “The budget as announced yesterday is unsatisfactory and dead on arrival,” she said. She also questioned why all school board members did not join the Wednesday press conference to advocate for more progressive revenue from the state. And she said the district cancelled a group of teachers’ lobbying trip to Springfield previously scheduled for this week. Under a May Day agreement CPS and the union struck last month , the district had committed to give the day off with pay to as many as 65 CTU members to lobby lawmakers. But the district said Wednesday that CTU provided a list of seven educators but did not meet the five-day advance notice spelled out in the agreement. Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org .

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