The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) FY2025 proposed budget total of $9.9 billion presents a temporary solution to a long-term structural financial problem. The plan as presented manages to close a $505 million budget deficit through a series of strategies, including operational reductions and efficiencies, without resorting to irresponsible fiscal practices like issuing debt to fund operations or depleting reserves. However, this budget remains incomplete, contingent upon outstanding collective…
CPS’ FY2025 proposed budget is incomplete at a time when the District faces enormous fiscal challenges both in the short-term, due to unsettled teacher contracts, and in the long-term given next year’s even-larger fiscal deficit. CPS must urgently work with stakeholders to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan to stabilize its finances.
In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation expressed significant concern about the escalating fiscal challenges facing Chicago Public Schools as it votes to approve its FY2025 proposed budget and works to finalize its teacher contract. CPS is spending the last of its federal COVID relief funding at a time when costs associated with personnel and collective bargaining agreements are increasing. Intensifying the budgetary pressures are both the growing cost of operations and the…
At the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education’s monthly board meeting in October, the CPS Office of Finance updated the Board on the District’s current financial status and the FY2025 budget forecast. The District is expecting to see a $391 million budget shortfall next fiscal year once the remaining $300 million of federal COVID relief dollars are spent. The District has received a total of $2.8 billion in COVID relief dollars since FY2021 and used $1.82 billion, or 65% of the funds…
The Federation urges the District to develop a long-term financial plan as costs continue to rise and a financial cliff looms. Click here to visit the report landing page.CHICAGO – In an analysis released today, the Civic Federation expressed significant concerns about the long-term viability of Chicago Public Schools’ finances. While the District’s $9.8 billion FY2024 budget is stable due to both federal COVID-19 relief funding and local tax revenue, it nevertheless faces a financial…
Click here to read the full report.Click here to read the press release for this analysis.SUMMARYThe Civic Federation continues to have significant reservations about the long-term viability of the District's finances. The CPS budget of $9.8 billion for the coming year is stable due to a combination of federal COVID-19 relief funds and local tax sources, including a property tax increase to the maximum allowed under the state tax cap law. However, CPS faces a fiscal cliff of $628 million…
With the upcoming implementation of an elected school board to oversee Chicago Public Schools, the governance of CPS will be separated from the City of Chicago. The 21-member elected school board, set to replace the existing seven-member board appointed by the Chicago mayor, will be phased in beginning in 2025, with the fully elected board in place beginning in 2027. The separation raises questions about the ongoing financial responsibility of the City to the school district and whether…
This blog post examines the Chicago Public Schools’ contributions to the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund in the FY2023 budget and the funding status of the Pension Fund based on financial health indicators. Additional descriptive information about teachers’ pension benefits and history can be found in past budget analyses.[1] Members of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund Certified CPS teachers are enrolled in the Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago (known as the…
The Civic Federation recently released its analysis of the Chicago Public Schools proposed FY2023 budget. The Federation opposed the budget because the District has not provided sufficient justification for raising its property tax to the maximum amount allowed under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) at a time when taxpayers already face serious economic strains and when CPS has alternative options available. Despite opposition to this aspect of the budget proposal, the…
CPS student enrollment has been declining annually for the past two decades. In a recent analysis of the Chicago Public Schools proposed FY2023 budget, the Civic Federation highlighted this trend. Specifically, the Federation pointed to an enrollment decline of 18.1% over the last decade, from the 2012-2013 (FY2013) school year to the 2021-2022 (FY2022) school year. School funding at CPS is partially based on per-student enrollment. The District uses the 20th day fall enrollment from the…
