Chicago Board of Education approves controversial budget plan, avoids shutdown
Chicago Board of Education approves controversial budget plan, avoids shutdown
The Chicago Board of Education approved the budget for next year Thursday evening after an hourslong meeting.
CHICAGO - The Chicago Board of Education approved the budget for next year Thursday evening after an hourslong meeting.
The board voted 12-7 with one abstention to pass the controversial plan. Had it not been approved, it would have been an unprecedented move.
What we know:
State law required a spending plan to be in place by Friday. The vote came about five hours after the meeting began, avoiding a shutdown.
Dozens of speakers — including parents, teachers and elected officials — addressed the board ahead of the vote.
Twice, board members attempted to delay the decision, prompting further debate. A key sticking point was how to handle borrowing and spending.
Chicago Public Schools faces a ballooning deficit and is working to close a $734 million gap. The approved plan shifts a $175 million pension payment to the city and assumes $379 million in tax increment financing surplus revenue.
What they're saying:
After the meeting, two board members said this decision puts students first.
"Incredibly exciting that we got to this passed budget. School will be in session tomorrow, school will be in session after Labor Day. So it's a really joyous occasion for us…," said board member Carlos Rivas, Jr..
Various elected leaders also spoke, including 40th Ward Ald. Andre Vasquez, who urged members to come together for the sake of students. His remarks drew applause.
The backstory:
Mayor Brandon Johnson recently appointed Angel Velez, a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant from West Englewood, to a long-vacant board seat. The move came ahead of Thursday’s pivotal vote.
Behind the scenes, lobbying intensified as Johnson, the Chicago Teachers Union and their allies on the board clashed with CPS leadership.
Political ads also ramped up. One ad from the CTU attacked elected board members who backed the budget and opposed new borrowing, falsely claiming the plan would lead to midyear cuts. Another ad from the political action committee Common Ground Collective accused mayoral appointees of "selling out CPS."
Johnson, the CTU and their appointees opposed the budget, saying it should include the pension payment and a high-interest, short-term loan to help cover it. CPS leaders called that approach reckless and warned it could create a debt spiral that jeopardizes classrooms.
On Wednesday, more than half of the City Council signed a letter urging the board to approve the budget, warning that "workers and students will ultimately pay the short-term cost of these willfully reckless financial decisions, but the pain will be felt by Chicago’s children."
Interim CPS CEO Maquline King said a shutdown would be unprecedented but expressed willingness to work with the board.
"I stand by the budget that I proposed," King told Fox 32. "However, again, if board members decide to go in a different path, I will accept that and work with the board and the district to implement the budget that’s passed."
On Tuesday night, Johnson pushed back on critics, arguing that previous CPS leaders borrowed even more.
"These individuals were reckless," he said. "Let’s call it like it is. When you put a Black man in charge of a city, all of a sudden, everybody wants to be an accountant."
What's next:
The outcome was not what Johnson or the CTU sought. They had pushed for CPS to front the pension payment and take out a high-interest, short-term loan to cover it.