Chicago Public Schools lays off dozens of workers to close $743M budget deficit
Chicago Public Schools lays off dozens of workers to close $743M budget deficit
Chicago Public Schools is laying off more than a hundred workers to help close a big budget gap.
CHICAGO - Dozens of Chicago Public Schools employees were laid off this week as the district continues to find ways to close a $743 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.
The majority of the workers who were laid off were in the district’s central office or were crossing guards.
CPS looks for ‘cost savings’
What we know:
CPS said in a statement the layoffs included 67 employees across its central and network offices, seven Chicago Teachers Union employees, and 87 SEIU member employees, nearly all of whom were crossing guards.
In total, 161 people were let go.
The district also eliminated 166 vacant central office positions, 19 vacant CTU-eligible positions, and 24 vacant crossing guard jobs.
In a statement, the district said:
"Over the past several months, while under the leadership of the previous CEO, our Talent team has been working closely with the Budget Office and department leaders to take a thoughtful look at how we operate. Together, we've been identifying ways to be more efficient and find cost savings across our central offices and administrative functions—always with the goal of better supporting schools and students. In addition to position reductions, the District has also implemented cuts to contractual services and other non personnel expenses to further limit the impact on school communities."
‘A significant blow’
What they're saying:
Leadership from the CTU and SEIU Local 73 decried the layoffs.
SEIU Local 73 represents more than 11,000 CPS support staff like special education classroom assistants, custodians, crossing guards, security offices and bus aides, according to the union.
"We believe that laying off any of these essential workers would be a significant blow to our education system," said SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer, in a statement.
Palmer also called on the city and Board of Education to "urgently explore other alternatives that will not directly harm students’ education." She said additional state funding and using tax increment financing (TIF) funds from the city could "easily bridge this gap."
The leaders of CTU, including President Stacy Davis Gates, said such layoffs "cause distress and hardship for the members impacted" and "destabilize school communities." The leadership also blamed state officials and lawmakers for inadequate funding to CPS.
"The chaos that Chicago’s educators and school families experience every summer is avoidable. It is a direct consequence of every Illinois governor and every state legislature underfunding our schools, year after year," said the CTU leaders in a statement.
Last week’s layoffs were just the latest round of recent actions to save money.
Earlier this year, CPS laid off 530 tutors originally hired with pandemic relief funds. The district said the tutoring program started with that funding did not yield the results that officials had hoped for and decided to go with a more targeted approach with fewer tutors.