Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.Bucking warnings from Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King, the school board amended and narrowly passed a roughly $10 billion budget proposal Thursday that assumes the district will receive $150 million more in state funding than projected. Eleven board members voted to reverse hundreds of school-based staff layoffs included in King’s proposal, heeding the demands of the Chicago Teachers Union and the principals union. Appointed board members Anusha Thotakura, Debby Pope, Cydney Wallace, Angel Velez, Ed Bannon, Emma Lozano, Karen Zaccor, Michilla Blaise, and Norma Rios-Sierra, as well as elected board members Jitu Brown and Ebony DeBerry voted to increase the state funding projection of $2.78 billion by another $150 million. Elected board members Angel Gutierrez, Carlos Rivas, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Ellen Rosenfeld, Jennifer Custer, Jessica Biggs, and Therese Boyle voted no. Elected board member Yesenia Lopez abstained. District officials pushed the school board to approve the budget this week so they could secure short-term borrowing by Sept. 2 — two days before paychecks go out — and avoid a “de-facto shutdown” of schools. In a statement after the vote, a spokesperson said the district “cannot guarantee that CPS will receive financing in time for the September 4 payroll” given the board’s changes.“Failing to meet payroll is unacceptable,” the statement said. “This places the District at significant risk of being in violation of the law and collective bargaining agreements. It may also damage our credit rating and severely restrict our future borrowing capacity for capital projects and operational needs. Most critically, any disruption in pay directly threatens the stability of our schools, impacting our students, families, and dedicated staff.”The vote came after hours of public testimony and an unusual two-hour recess. During that time, CPS lawyers provided legal advice about amending the budget, according to multiple sources. Earlier this week, after a push from SEIU Local 73, CPS took furloughs out of its proposal by increasing the amount it expects to receive in special taxing district dollars, known as TIF surplus dollars, which are controlled by the mayor and City Council. But board members and the Chicago Teachers Union want more pressure on state lawmakers, who have not yet fulfilled a goal to fund all schools to what it considers 90% adequacy. The state considers CPS funded at 73%. “If we’re not including the state in this conversation, we are fooling ourselves and we are robbing our kids of opportunities,” said appointed board member Michilia Blaise, who introduced the plan to revise King’s budget. “Let’s make it clear to our students that cuts to school communities will not come lightly.” With the state’s veto session scheduled for November, it’s not clear any new money would come in time for this school year.Some key Democratic lawmakers have promised to help boost school funding, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. At the board meeting, State Senator Robert Martwick, who represents parts of the Northwest Side and some suburbs, told board members he will fight for more funding. King warns of consequences to revising her budget proposalBefore the vote, King defended her budget plan, noting that CPS has lost 45,000 students in the last seven years but has hired 10,000 more staffers. Despite school-level cuts, she noted most laid off staffers are rehired in other vacant positions and highlighted an increase in special education and bilingual staff.She also warned of the risks of assuming more state funds will come through. King recalled her time as a principal in 2017, when CPS had adopted a budget expecting more state funding than previous years that didn’t come through after then-Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed related legislation. CPS imposed big cuts, and King had to lay off staff at her school. “This was severely disruptive to my students,” King said. “Those are the faces that I see. Those are the conversations that I recall, and that is why I put forth the recommended budget that I did.” School board has a heated debate Board members were starkly divided. Several elected board members not aligned with the teachers union and Mayor Brandon Johnson underscored the risks of assuming there will be more state money. Elected member Jennifer Custer called the idea of expecting a $150 million increase in state money a “hallucination.” Elected board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith said he will help advocate for more funding from the state and the city. Smith, a rapper and songwriter, recited a poem he crafted in response to one delivered during public comment by a CTU member: “They say the mayor owes a billy, give it again and again, and don’t make us look silly,” referencing the $1 billion in TIF dollars the mayor and City Council surplused last year, of which CPS got $577 million. Board president Sean Harden warned TIF surplus is not a guarantee either. At least a dozen school staffers, clad in bright red CTU shirts, urged the board to revise the budget and push the state to pay up. Several teachers said teacher layoffs mean bigger class sizes and breaking relationships with students. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates acknowledged the difficult decisions King and her team faced and laid the blame on state lawmakers, including Gov. JB Pritzker. She said the union will help CPS pressure the state.“Let’s assume that doing this together makes it impossible for people to keep telling us no,” said Davis Gates, who is also the president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Board member Jitu Brown also said he believes the “political will” to boost state education funding is there. Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73, which represents 16,000 support staffers, remained skeptical that a majority of state lawmakers will agree to increase CPS funding. “Unsecured revenue cannot pay our (Special Education Classroom Assistants) rent in September,” Palmer said. “It cannot guarantee a bus aide on the bus when school opens. Our students do not get to wait for Springfield to make up its mind, and neither should this board.” Kia Banks, head of the principals union, supported an amended budget. She said she was encouraged that Illinois House Speaker Welch is interested in boosting funding. “If (funding) doesn’t come through, like in 2017, it’s devastating, and I don’t think they would want that on their record,” Banks said of state lawmakers. But Justin Marlowe, director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, said the state now has “far less” incentive to act. If the state can’t come up with the money, “CPS will have to own the consequences,” he said in an email. Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema atramin@chalkbeat.org.
