Chicago school board scrambles to find $150 million to balance budget, make payroll
Chicago Public Schools teachers are expected back in their buildings in less than two weeks, and people are asking Mayor Brandon Johnson what he is going to do to ensure the district can make payroll.
District leaders warned the Chicago Board of Education that it will be a "disaster" if Springfield does not cough up the $150 million needed to balance the CPS budget.
Without those funds, the consequences are midyear layoffs, furlough days, and cuts.
The board last week passed a budget plan that assumes the $150 million will be coming and relies upon it, despite no promise from Springfield that it can be covered. The 11-7 vote came despite warnings from top CPS staff that the approved budget plan was not truly balanced as required by state law, and even risks missing payroll in September.
The revised budget closed a $732 million deficit without relying on nearly 1,600 layoffs – including about 760 teachers – that CPS chief executive officer Macquline King had proposed under the plan she presented to the board.
The Chicago Teachers Union, which had pressured school board members to pass a budget that relies on additional state funding, hailed the vote last week, noting that the Illinois General Assembly has yet to live up to a promise made in 2017 to provide 100% of what is considered "adequate" funding under the state's evidence-based funding formula.
CTU argues that, under the state's evidence-based funding formula, CPS is owed $2 billion in additional funding, and the budget vote put the pressure on state lawmakers and the governor to provide more money to the district.
Reporters repeatedly asked Mayor Johnson on Tuesday about his game plan if Springfield legislators do not release the funds.
"There's no one in Chicago looking for a handout. We're just asking them to fulfill the promise that they made when they signed the law in 2017," the mayor said, "and so this notion that Mayor Johnson needs to fix everything that someone else has failed to do, and if they continue to fail, what are you going to do? Like, is that a reasonable expectation?"
Some top Springfield legislators, including Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch (D-Westchester), are signaling their support. Welch appeared in a video for CTU, saying he is willing to discuss supplemental funding for CPS during the fall veto session of the Illinois General Assembly.
But fall could be too late.
CPS leaders said the passed budget impacts the district's ability to access short-term financing. That puts the payroll for September, which is supposed to come in less than a month, in jeopardy, according to the district.
