The Chicago School Board did the tough but right thing last week when it passed the district's $9.9 billion budget for this coming school year — but the job isn't done yet.
By the right thing, we mean including cuts, central office layoffs and unfilled vacant positions in the budget to help close a $505 million deficit, as well as previously rejecting Mayor Brandon Johnson's push to take on more debt to help cover pension and labor costs. Cuts and layoffs are painful, but taking on more debt to help out only creates more pain down the road.
The budget doesn't include the still-to-be-negotiated costs for new labor contracts with the Chicago Teachers Union and the new union for school principals. Nor does it include the $175 pension payment that Johnson, like his predecessor Lori Lightfoot, wants the CPS budget, not the city's, to cover. (This editorial warned that the city would be quick to disentangle its own budget from CPS's, once mayoral control of the district ended and an elected school board become reality.)
So what happens next?
The district's fiscal problems, made worse because federal pandemic money is quickly running out, won't be solved overnight. Demanding relief from the state will only go so far, if it goes at all. Springfield has yet to fully fund its evidence-based funding formula for schools, which would help close the gap. Repeating the inaccurate mantra, "the state owes Chicago schools $1.1 billion" when the math shows otherwise won't work, except as a rallying cry.
This is not the time for the CTU to expect to get the moon in contract negotiations. The mayor isn't likely to hold firm with the CTU, so it's up to the board. Neither side will earn any points from the public if they fail to keep taxpayers in mind, not the unions, while keeping the focus on doing right by kids.
In the end, long-term fiscal solutions are needed.
Chicagoans who care about the fate of our public schools must start paying attention to this November's school board elections, which will give the city a partially-elected board. The board will be fully elected by 2027.
There will be candidates with strong ties to the CTU and to other interests, such as charter schools. Another player, we expect, will be the newly formed One Future Illinois PAC made up of business and civic leaders. Their goal, members say, is to support problem-solving across partisan lines. We're hoping they find and support school board candidates with the expertise and courage to do what's right, especially for the students most in need and irrespective of ideology and politics.
Public schools are essential to a city's future. Now, to find people willing to make hard decisions for a brighter future.
