Chicago aldermen grill CPS officials as new budget figures are released: ‘Why are we cutting positions in schools?’

Chicago Public Schools revealed a new set of proposed budget numbers that paint a rosier picture of the next school year, shortly before Chicago aldermen grilled district officials about budget concerns during a three-hour education committee meeting Thursday.

CPS said it is pumping $79 million more into individual school budgets than its initial budget proposal released in March. It appears some of this money — such as $45 million for professional development and $7 million to support athletics — had already been announced, but as part of a central pot schools could draw from.

Now it’s being divvied up among the 500-plus district-run schools, which each saw their proposed budget adjusted upwards. The bad news for several schools is this influx of cash would still not be enough for them to reach this year’s budget levels. The good news for 116 schools is they successfully requested more special education money than they were initially due to receive, for a total of $14 million.

Despite a somewhat sunnier outlook, several aldermen expressed exasperation with CPS officials, at times cutting them off and criticizing their answers as inadequate, during Thursday’s virtual committee meeting. Aldermen repeatedly asked variations of the same questions such as, what can parents expect their school to offer in the fall? And why is CPS cutting school budgets when the district is receiving billions in COVID-19 relief funding?

“Can somebody explain why are we cutting positions in schools if the money to be able to retain those positions is there? The reason why I’m saying this is, I’ve been going to the schools in my community, and I have been talking to everybody,” said Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd. “I have schools that are losing special ed teachers, like, one of my schools is losing three of them, which is going to have an impact in how they are able to manage case loads.”

Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova said the goal is not to cut positions, but to make sure funding is equitably distributed across the district, keeping in mind enrollment shifts between schools. Overall district enrollment declined again this year — about 3% to 330,000 students.

When asked how many positions will be cut next year, Chkoumbova said she didn’t have that number. “This is still a process that is ongoing with the talent team. They just recently received some information, you know, obviously, from schools, and we’re working on this. But as soon as we have the final numbers we will share with the (committee) chairman,” she said.

A CPS spokesperson said the district released its individual school budget proposals earlier than usual this year to get ahead on planning and hiring and to allow for adjustments.

CPS revealed proposed budgets for each of its district-run schools in March. At the time, about 40% of schools were facing budget cuts. The leader of a Chicago principals group said the numbers were actually worse when you factored in contractual raises and inflation.

The Chicago Teachers Union held rallies at Emiliano Zapata Academy in Little Village and Haines Elementary School in Chinatown decrying the proposed cuts. The budget figures released Thursday now show nearly a quarter of schools would see their budgets shrink compared to this school year.

The $79 million that’s said to be headed directly to schools includes $45 million for professional development, $14 million for special education, $10 million for program support, $7 million for athletics and $3 million for prekindergarten.

Individual school budgets are what principals use to determine staffing levels for the fall. These figures are just a portion of the district’s overall budget, which the Chicago Board of Education is expected to approve this summer.

The tense tone of the aldermen’s questioning in Thursday’s committee meeting reflected confusion about CPS’ budget process; doubt that the district is taking full advantage of federal COVID-19 relief funds; and concern about the lack of transparency in this decision making. At last month’s board of education meeting, CEO Pedro Martinez vowed to address the media and the public about the budget “to make sure everybody has the facts and the complete information.”

But CPS officials repeatedly failed to come up with answers that satisfied the aldermen Thursday.

Much of the discussion centered on the $2.8 billion in direct emergency pandemic relief funding the district is projected to receive over five fiscal years. CPS Chief Budget Officer Heather Wendell said the district anticipates allocating at least $600 million of this money for the upcoming school year’s budget. Wendell said CPS has spent in total more than $1.1 billion, about 40%, of this funding, which is set to expire in the fall of 2024.

“We don’t have the luxury to be holding on to money. Spend it now y’all,” said Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th.

Charles Swirsky, senior adviser to Martinez, said spending all the money right now would be “irresponsible as we’re continuing to hemorrhage students, and maybe that’s clear that everybody else is saying …”

Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st, interjected. “We both absolutely know that we could spend as much funding that was needed to hold schools harmless and still be able to provide for those out years. You make a good point,” he said. “It does not prevent us from doing what my colleagues, our principals and our teachers are asking for. But I appreciate the point, sincerely.”

tswartz@tribpub.com