Emiliano Zapata Academy teachers and elected officials gathered Tuesday outside the Little Village elementary school to protest a proposed $894,000 cut to the school’s budget for the upcoming year.
Last month Chicago Public Schools presented preliminary individual school budgets for the 2022-23 school year. If those figures hold, Zapata’s budget would be $5.9 million, down from $6.8 million this school year. On Tuesday school community members called on the district to spend federal COVID-19 funds to ensure no school would have to experience cuts, but especially those in Little Village, which was hit hard by the pandemic.
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“We here at Zapata are projected to lose eight or nine teachers, which will most definitely dramatically increase class sizes. In my own classroom, I am projected to have 30 distinctly unique little human beings in front of me instead of the 20 that I have this year,” Zapata fourth grade bilingual teacher Jaquelina Salgado said. “There is no good reason why my future students should be crammed into a classroom where I will have great difficulty meeting their academic, their social, their emotional needs. They deserve so much more.”
In a conversation with news reporters last month, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said school enrollment was a major factor in the creation of the individual budgets. District enrollment declined from 340,000 students the last school year to 330,000 students this year. Zapata counted 554 students, down from 621, according to CPS data.
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Martinez emphasized lower-enrollment schools and schools with the greatest needs would have enough resources for the fall, and more support from the central office would be provided to all schools.
Local School Councils at CPS schools were directed to approve school budgets by April 19. It’s unclear if the figures the district released last month are the final numbers or if any schools were able to negotiate more money. CPS did not immediately provide comment.
In all, about 200 of CPS’ 500-plus district-run schools were on track to receive less money, based on figures provided last month by CPS.
Troy LaRaviere, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, said at last month’s Chicago Board of Education meeting that the raw numbers don’t tell the whole story.
LaRaviere said they fail to account for a 5.5% to 6% increase in staffing costs when you factor in raises and “step” increases, which automatically boost an employee’s salary for adding a year of experience.
“It is a fact that some schools receive roughly the same amounts they received last year. However, the CEO used that fact to imply these budgets would create stability. That was false,” LaRaviere said.
“Handing (out) the same amount of money provides zero stability for students if that money doesn’t secure the same staff and services. If expenses go up and your budget remains the same, you create instability.”
Outside Zapata on Tuesday, eighth grade civics teacher and parent Juan Sanchez was among those calling for the use of COVID-19 funding to stabilize school budgets.
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“CPS has received over $2 billion in federal funds during the dawn of the pandemic, the majority of which has not made its way to our classrooms, and many of which remains unspent,” Sanchez said. “CPS has chosen — it’s a choice — to undercut, to underfund and to undermine schools like Zapata’s ability to adequately educate our children.”
CPS is expected to receive $2.8 billion in direct emergency pandemic relief funding over five fiscal years. The district recently admitted it’s been slow to spend this money, but it also said it doesn’t want to create positions it can’t afford when the pandemic money runs out.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, said he will work with teachers, parents and advocates to restore funding to Zapata and other Little Village schools. CPS is still formulating its overall budget plan for the next school year, which includes capital spending on construction projects. This year’s budget was $9.3 billion.
A “Free the Funds” protest over proposed budget cuts is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. outside CPS headquarters in the Loop before Wednesday’s monthly board meeting.
