Chicago Archdiocese accuses CPS of abruptly ending funding for students with disabilities
The Chicago Archdiocese is accusing Chicago Public schools of abruptly pulling funding for students with disabilities in Catholic schools.
Archdiocese officials said in a statement that Friday is suddenly the last day more than 800 students with disabilities will receive federally funded instructional support at their schools. The support includes tutoring and other special needs academic support services.
The archdiocese is claiming these programs were only pulled from Catholic schools, saying they are "not aware of any other non-public school system or individual school, religious or secular, whose IDEA services are being terminated." IDEA refers to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provides the federal funding for the services.
Cardinal Blase Cupich blasted the city's school district, writing in the statement, "We cannot allow this shocking and unjust action by CPS to stand, not only given its affront to Catholics, but even more so since that injustice disenfranchises the students we serve."
Church leaders are even questioning if the public school district mismanaged Monday. They said they have been in contact with new CPS CEO Dr. Macquline King, but their "written and telephone efforts have not yielded a response."
But CPS disputed the church's characterization of the situation. In a statement Friday afternoon, CPS officials said they have met regularly with the Archdiocese this academic year and repeatedly alerted Catholic school administrators that they were spending their funding too fast and that they were on track to run out of federal funds before the end of the school year.
While the Archdiocese and district officials did collaborate to help the Catholic school evaluate their office, CPS said that ultimately, "the Archdiocese made the decision to wind down the academic interventions and retain focus on social work, speech and other services."
They called any claim that the district was unresponsive or uncooperative "patently false."
The blame for the lack of funds, CPS said, ultimately falls on the Archdiocese, which they said "exercised its independent authority to reallocate its remaining funds."
"As a result of their internal decision-making, the Archdiocese elected to cease using Catapult Learning Services, Chicago Home Tutor, and United Stand for classroom instruction" the district said in its statement.
Queen of All Saints is one of about 80 Catholic schools in Chicago that is impacted. The announcement that services would be cut for the rest of the year came as a huge surprise.
Danny Keaton, 12, has had the same special education teacher for the last three years. He has hemiplegia cerebral palsy, which he said affects his right side and makes writing difficult. Miss Harris helps him in subjects where is difficulty with writing makes things challenging.
His family received an email Wednesday about the funding cut-off.
"I found the notification from Chicago Public Schools' Office of Disabled Students saying 'We've exhausted the funds. Good luck,'" his mother Beth Keaton said.
CPS's Grant Funded Program Office said the money was "fully expended" and instructional help like Danny's had been canceled for the rest of the year.
"I was extremely saddened by the news, because she is one of my close, close friends," he said. "It makes me extremely saddened, because my math grade is gonna suffer."
"And when you strip away the help, that makes it feel like, well, maybe I didn't deserve it, or this is going to be even harder. Why am I trying? And I don't want my child to feel that way. I don't want any child to feel that way," said Keaton.
IDEA special education teacher Cindy Wojcik teaches 15 kids at two Catholic schools in the city and said she was just notified not to show p to Monday.
"This directly impacts the students, the students who we help, who are already behind and without our assistance, they're going to fall further behind," she said. "Students received these services."
Greg Richmond, the superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said he reached out to other private schools in the city and it appear their funding remains intact.
"So, we don't understand why it appears that only Catholic school students are losing their services. We don't know why. We… we do know that this is a program that is entirely managed by CPS," he said. "We don't know what went wrong exactly with that, but clearly something happened to cause them to say, they're out of money, and they need to end the services."
Chicago Public Schools also noted in their statement that federal funding for IDEA has remained stagnant over the years despite a surge in need.
CBS News Chicago has asked CPS about the allegations that they are specifically targeting Catholic institutions and are waiting for their response.
The archdiocese responded to the district's statement, writing, "Today's statement by CPS is confusing and misrepresents how this program is run. We remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure these students continue to receive the services they deserve."
Full statement from Chicago Public Schools
As the federally-mandated fiscal agent, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) bears a critical responsibility: ensuring the lawful and proportionate distribution of specific and limited federal grant dollars, including Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding. In this capacity, the District serves as the administrative bridge, ensuring that required services reach students in private schools through a complex, regulated framework.
Each private school recipient of IDEA funding determines the choices in the delivery of services to their own students. CPS has been proactive and transparent in the duty of distributing the available funds by meeting on a regular basis with the Archdiocese and various affiliate groups to assist in guiding the services to students with supplemental service plans. Throughout the current fiscal year, District officials repeatedly alerted Catholic school administrators that their spending trajectory was outpacing the funding allocation; they were on track to exhaust their allocated share of federal funds before the end of the school year. In response, Archdiocese teams collaborated with CPS teams to evaluate their options. Ultimately, the Archdiocese made the decision to wind down academic interventions and retain focus on social work, speech, and other services. Any claim that the District has remained unresponsive or uncooperative is patently false and ignores months of direct consultation.
The broader systemic challenge is clear: Federal IDEA funding has remained stagnant for years, while the population of students requiring services continues to surge. That growth is felt at both public and non-public schools. The number of students in non-public school settings alone typically grows by 200 to 300 students per month, while federal IDEA funding remains stagnant. Like school districts across the country, CPS is forced to manage a finite pool of resources against an infinite rise in demand.
In light of these fiscal constraints, the Archdiocese exercised its independent authority to reallocate its remaining funds. As a result of their internal decision-making, the Archdiocese elected to cease using Catapult Learning Services, Chicago Home Tutor, and United Stand for classroom instruction.
CPS remains committed to its role as a responsible fiscal steward, ensuring that every dollar of the proportionate share is managed with the integrity and precision of the law for the sake of all students.
Full statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago
More than 800 students with disabilities who attend Chicago Catholic schools will lose their federally-funded instructional support services Monday because of an abrupt decision by the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to terminate those services two months before the end of the school year.
As recently as March 25, CPS informed the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office of Catholic Schools that services would be provided through the end of the year. Then, late last week during the Holy Week holiday and with no prior warning, CPS informed the Archdiocese's Office of Catholic Schools that services provided to its students under the federally funded Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) would be ending abruptly. While it is understood that the federal funding for these services was provided to CPS for the full school year, we were informed that the last day of services would be Friday, April 10.
The choice of CPS to end services early means students with learning differences will lose important academic support services, such as tutoring in math, reading, and writing. Needless to say, this will create severe hardship for the hundreds of students who qualified for these services and who understood they would be provided through the end of the school year.
Inexplicably, CPS appears to have terminated IDEA services only in Catholic schools. We are not aware of any other non-public school system or individual school, religious or secular, whose IDEA services have been terminated. It is not clear why Catholic schools are being treated differently, but our schools and our students have the right to be treated equally under the law. Any attempt by a government entity to unfavorably single out one religious group raises serious constitutional concerns.
Moreover, under the IDEA, it is the responsibility of CPS to properly manage the funds supplied by the federal government. CPS assured us on March 25 that this program was fully funded through the end of the school year. CPS' sudden claim two weeks later that it has no funds and must terminate the program raises serious questions about whether these federal funds have been properly managed.
We have attempted to find an amicable solution with the CPS Superintendent/CEO Dr. Macquline King, but our written and telephone efforts have not yielded a response. In light of the irreparable harm facing our students, it is imperative that CPS immediately reverse its actions, restore the funds it already allocated for our students, and allow our students to receive the services through the end of the school year. If CPS does not restore IDEA funding, we will explore all possible remedies, including reporting the matter to the appropriate regulatory agencies and commencing legal action on behalf of our students.
"We cannot allow this shocking and unjust action by CPS to stand, not only given its affront to Catholics, but even more so since that injustice disenfranchises the students we serve," said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. "For more than 175 years, our schools have helped lift families out of poverty and produced well prepared and civically engaged graduates. We do so at a cost far below that of other systems and are proud of our students and the teachers who work every day to serve them. We owe them every effort to right this wrong."
