Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools principals face a narrow window to trim expenses on textbooks and programs after the district announced a $46 million "spending freeze" in its latest bid to cover $215 million in state assistance that didn’t come through.
The measure forces principals to re-engineer their budgets in the middle of the school year and give up as much as half of unspent money sitting in accounts for nonpersonnel costs.
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool suggested the district was slow-walking the release of potential cuts to pressure state government, even as district officials said Monday’s freeze threatened academic gains touted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Options for deeper cuts are still in play.
"These cuts get in the way of things like field trips, textbooks, instructional materials, other things that school leaders had identified as extremely important in order to run a school effectively," CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson told reporters Monday.
Recess and after-school programs could also be affected, Jackson said. Principals were given until Feb. 13 to file their budget cuts and will receive help from CPS financial consultants.
Some schools would absorb larger cuts than others. Lane Tech High School stands to lose up to $890,000, by far the largest of any school, according to a CPS summary of funds eligible to be frozen. Forty other elementary and high schools must target an average of $300,000 for cuts.
"It’s a freeze for now," Jackson said. "Our hope is that, you know, we get the funding that’s necessary in order to continue through the school year."
CPS shortfall of $500 million from last year hangs over current budget woes Juan Perez Jr.
Chicago Public Schools faced a shortfall in its operations budget of roughly $500 million at the close of its past fiscal year, leaving the financially troubled district with a significant bill to cover even as it struggles to balance this year’s spending plan.
The budget shortfall was reported…
Chicago Public Schools faced a shortfall in its operations budget of roughly $500 million at the close of its past fiscal year, leaving the financially troubled district with a significant bill to cover even as it struggles to balance this year’s spending plan.
The budget shortfall was reported…
(Juan Perez Jr.)
Independently operated schools in the district such as charters could see their funding cut by a total of $18 million in April to match the spending freeze and furlough days imposed on district-run schools.
CPS on Monday also said it was cutting $5 million in "professional development funds." The district said its central office, a regular target for cuts, will continue to see unspecified spending reductions to save money.
The district ordered four unpaid furlough days for its employees earlier this year, a move that officials said would save about $35 million. The combined cuts would close only half of a budget gap CPS faces after Gov. Bruce Rauner in December vetoed a measure to send $215 million to the cash-strapped school district. CPS officials had assumed the state aid would arrive in time to help balance this school year’s operating budget.
Claypool blamed the cuts on what he described as "Trumpian" tactics by Rauner. Legislators continue to work on a sweeping proposal that would send $215 million to CPS, overhaul school funding and enact other measures to end the state’s protracted budget stalemate.
Shorter school year an option as CPS faces filling budget gap Juan Perez Jr.
A Chicago Board of Education member on Wednesday raised the prospect of shortening the city’s school year to save money, though officials held off on publicly outlining steps being weighed to fill a budget gap.
Chicago Public Schools has ordered four furlough days for its employees while looking…
A Chicago Board of Education member on Wednesday raised the prospect of shortening the city’s school year to save money, though officials held off on publicly outlining steps being weighed to fill a budget gap.
Chicago Public Schools has ordered four furlough days for its employees while looking…
(Juan Perez Jr.)
Claypool said the city would push for new revenue for the school district but added that "Chicago taxpayers are not the ones that are shortchanging our schools."
Rauner said he scuttled the measure that would have provided the $215 million to CPS because Democratic legislators went back on a deal that tied the school aid measure to broader changes to the state’s highly indebted employee retirement system.
"Rather than cutting services and pointing fingers, we should all be working together to pass this comprehensive pension reform agreement immediately," the governor’s office said Monday. The statement from Rauner’s office characterized Claypool’s comparison of Rauner and President Donald Trump as "a misleading attempt to rewrite history."
The Chicago Teachers Union, which has denounced the furlough days as a violation of its contract, issued another call for Claypool’s resignation Monday and took both city and state officials to task.
"Rahm and Rauner are both to blame," CTU President Karen Lewis said in a statement. "There’s no separation between their intention to destroy publicly funded, public education in Chicago."
CPS and city officials have discussed other ways to save money, including shortening the school year. In financial disclosures, the district has said it will turn to budget cuts, unspecified legal action and borrowing to close this year’s budget gaps.
The district has faced budget gaps for years, but it has been able to cover them partly by dipping into cash reserves and tapping costly lines of short-term credit for cash to pay the bills. Those strategies are beginning to reach their limit, district officials acknowledge.
"We’re taking things one step at a time. Our main goal right now, our main fight, is in Springfield," Claypool said Monday. "We believe that the revenue can be secured in the current legislative session. That’s what we’re going to fight for.
"The choices we have beyond that are even more painful, and we are reluctant to execute those if we have a fighting chance in Springfield," he said.
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @PerezJr
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