CPS faces difficult budget decisions as staffing cuts loom

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Tarrant's Natalie and state lawmakers weigh those big tax breaks for the Bears in Springfield. Education leaders here in Chicago are basically telling them, "You got your priorities all mixed up."

[00:00:09]The message from the Board of Education is crystal clear. Save the Bears, yes, but save our schools first. We just heard from some of those board members about an hour or so ago, and they all got together to voice their concerns about a proposed property tax overhaul.

[00:00:25]They argue while the state is talking about funding for stadiums, Chicago Public Schools are facing a budget crisis that could gut programs for students.

[00:00:39]We're asking our Springfield partners to do what they did last year. They increased their funding to CPS last year. We need an additional increase. We know that times are tight, but we have to focus on our children.

[00:00:54]They discuss the Bears in terms of an economic engine, but CPS, our school system, is an economic engine.

[00:01:03]>> So, we're going to have to look at what the alternatives are. Obviously, our last the the least the last resort is cuts to the classroom. Um but these are desperate times. We're short somewhere between 750 million to a billion dollars.

[00:01:24]Okay, so with that in mind, just yesterday CPS released new budget proposals showing a massive $732 million deficit. And how did we get here, okay?

[00:01:33]During the pandemic, the district added nearly 10,000 staff positions to help students catch up, and leaders used federal money to pay those new workers, but that money has since dried up. It also doesn't help that the district has 45,000 fewer students than it did 7 years ago pre-pandemic. And there could be a lot at risk here, and we're talking specifically about the stuff that often makes kids want to go to school. Sports teams, music programs, those are on the chopping block. And for students who might have fallen behind during the pandemic, that after-school tutoring they rely on is also at risk. The board also warned we could see fewer counselors and bilingual coordinators in the hallways. And the district does admit that these cuts will not be felt equally. They are expected to hit black and Latino communities the hardest, sparking major concerns about equity across the city. I did look this up this morning and found through the district's website that black and Latino students make up 80% of the district's student population as of last September. Bottom line, the board says if lawmakers in Springfield decide to choose stadiums over schools, Chicago's most vulnerable students would have to pay the price. Principals now have until June 9th to try and make these budgets work. Meanwhile, board members say they will continue turning up that pressure in Springfield until they do that final vote later this summer.