Education
CPS Planning Furlough Days, Spending Freeze to Help Close $732M Shortfall as Officials Call for More State Funding
(WTTW News)
Chicago Public Schools is banking on $200 million in tax funding from the city and planning for a mid-year funding freeze and a week of furlough days to help close its $732 million budget shortfall.
District officials on Wednesday outlined their $9.88 billion budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, as they combat “serious financial challenges” including declining enrollment and revenue and greater student need.
“We are not budgeting for the district we had yesterday,” CPS CEO Macquline King told reporters Wednesday. “It is imperative we are budgeting for the students we serve today and the futures of tomorrow.”
According to King, CPS is counting on $200 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding from the city. The district is also set to shift five professional development days into unpaid furlough days and rely on a mid-year, districtwide spending freeze to plug the spending gap.
While CPS pointed to an increase of $143 million in funding for schools compared to last year, including increases for special education classroom assistants and bilingual educators, King acknowledged having to make “difficult decisions” to close the budget gap.
CPS officials stressed the furloughs are “an absolute last resort” and will not affect student instructional time. Those furlough dates are set to fall between January and June 2027 to give district leaders and other education officials more time to advocate for additional funding from the state before they’re implemented in hopes they could ultimately be avoided.
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates called the district’s proposal “dead on arrival,” adding that CPS leaders “already know that.”
“Students have had to learn in overcrowded classes, practice under unpaid coaches, and be counseled by caseworkers with loads beyond compare all year,” Davis Gates said in a statement Wednesday, “and now CPS thinks they can plan a week of furloughs and tell the staff who serve them they don’t have a job? Please.”
The CTU on Wednesday called the proposed cuts “unnecessary,” claiming they would have a “devastating effect on school communities.”
The budget release comes as the CTU and education advocates have continued pushing Illinois and Cook County leaders to release more funding for CPS and other school districts.
Last week, educators and other school staff demanded Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators convene a special session to fully fund Chicago Public Schools. The CTU has repeatedly said the school district has received nearly $2 billion less than it is owed from the state under its evidence-based funding formula.
The union also claimed CPS has incurred more than $40 million in interest costs from short-term borrowing undertaken due to the disbursement of Cook County property tax revenue it is owed.
“In view of these facts, it is beyond reckless for CPS to balance its budget by making staffing cuts instead of taking affirmative steps to secure outstanding funds it is owed,” CTU leaders wrote in a letter to the district Wednesday. “No plan to cut educator positions should move ahead until these efforts to secure the funding the district is owed are exhausted.”
CPS leaders previously said they planned to cut funding for assistant principals in the smallest schools and make significant reductions to citywide expenditures and staffing at the central and network offices to help plug the budget gap.
Already CPS has announced it laid off 162 central office and citywide staff.
Wednesday’s proposal comes almost a month early compared to last year, when CPS and the Board of Education went down to an end-of-August deadline to get a budget passed while facing a $734 million shortfall.
CPS this year has until Aug. 29 to finalize that district-wide budget, though officials say they intend to present their budget proposal to the Board of Education for a vote at its upcoming July 30 meeting.
The board is planning to hold a pair of public hearings on that proposal on July 20 — from 1-2:30 p.m. and from 4:30-6 p.m. — at the school district’s Loop headquarters located at 42 W. Madison St.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
