Education

More Than Half of CPS Board Calling for ‘Critical’ Changes to District’s Budget Plan

More than half of Chicago’s 21-member Board of Education signed on to a letter calling for “critical” changes to Chicago Public Schools’ latest budget proposal in the form of a loan and the district picking up a $175 million municipal pension payment.

The letter — sent to interim CPS CEO Macquline King — came after several board members voiced concerns about the district’s proposed spending plan, one CPS officials have pledged would keep any cuts out of the classroom.

According to CPS, a high-interest loan would send the district into a “downward spiral” of credit downgrades, higher interest rates and steeper cuts to staff, programs and services. But 11 of the 21 board members are calling for that to be included as an option in the district’s proposed spending plan.

“While we cannot yet confirm the exact interest rate, the loan should be included as an option to be utilized only in the event it is necessary to avoid further cuts to the classroom,” the board members wrote in the letter.

WBEZ first reported on the letter Thursday.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has pushed for the cash-strapped district to take out a loan, but King and other CPS leaders have resisted, saying it could spur a “downward spiral” of credit downgrades, higher interest rates and steeper cuts to staff, programs and services.

Nine of the 11 board members who signed the letter were appointed by Johnson, while two others were elected.

CPS has faced a budget gap of $734 million and the district under state law must have a budget in place before the end of August.

In presenting the proposed spending plan Wednesday, chief budget officer Mike Sitkowski said that if the district were to take out a $200 million loan this year, it would cost CPS an additional $107 million to pay that back, putting further strain on future finances.

CPS is also set to defer a $175 million municipal pension payment it is scheduled to make, pushing it instead onto the city, unless the district can secure additional state funding, TIF surplus revenue or other local resources to cover that cost.

Sitkowski said the district could not currently make that payment without “short- or long-term impacts to our schools.”

Johnson has said “all options will be on the table” to resolve the district’s budget gap, adding this week that he expected CPS to make that pension payment. He’s also voiced support of King, saying she is “qualified to lead in this moment.”

In their letter, the board members expressed support for “continuing the disentanglement” of that pension payment by keeping CPS responsible for it. They said that will allow for “greater clarity and accountability in the budgeting process.”

“It would be difficult for us,” the board members wrote in the letter, “to support a budget without these two changes.”

The board is set to vote on the CPS budget at its Aug. 28 meeting.

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