Research Library
June 2, 2026
Understanding Municipal Debt: A Case Study of the Chicago Public Schools
This report serves as a basic primer on how municipal debt works and how it is meant to be used, using the debt load of one local government as a case study: the Chicago Public School District. CPS’ debt challenges are not the result of any single decision or administration, but rather decades of structurally imbalanced budgets and recurring fiscal pressures. Improving the District’s long-term financial outlook will require reducing reliance on backloaded debt structures, pursuing sustainable solutions to recurring budget deficits, rebuilding financial reserves, and improving its credit rating.
Featured Reports & Analysis
August 20, 2026
Video Gaming in Chicago: Where Things Stand
The 2026 Chicago City budget authorized video gaming within the City of Chicago (Chicago or the ‘City’) and relied on the projected revenue from licensing fees to help balance the alternative budget ultimately passed into law in December 2025 by the City Council without the signature of the Mayor. Since passage, the video gaming revenue has been the subject of recurring debate and controversy between the Mayor, the City Council, Bally’s, and others. However, that debate has occurred without full public-facing information and analysis needed to make informed policy decisions. This report breaks down what video gaming is, how it became legalized in Chicago last year, how the political debate played out, and what is needed from a public and fiscal policy perspective at this fragile moment as the City approaches an already complicated FY2027 budget season.
August 14, 2026
In The Wake of CPS’ Budget Vote: What Comes Next?
On July 30th 2026, the Chicago Board of Education approved a $10.1 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Although the approved budget largely mirrored the budget proposed by Chicago Public Schools’ CEO Macquline King, it contained one major deviation. Before passing the budget, the Board voted on the adoption of an amendment that restored existing the CEO had cut to balance the proposed budget. Many of these cuts have already been implemented. The amendment’s proponents assumed additional funding would come from the State of Illinois to cover the cost of restoring those roles. At the time of the Board vote, this additional revenue had not been promised or secured by state legislators. The contentious Board amendment amounted to budgeting on the basis of non-existent revenue and could cause significant fiscal strain at CPS if the additional State funding does not appear. This short report will examine the changes made to the budget and discuss several of the most relevant questions now facing CPS.
August 12, 2026
How Chicago Public Schools’ Pensions Work: An Explainer (FY2016-2025)
his report is a 2026 update with numbers through 2025. The original report with numbers from FY2014-2023 is published here.
The Chicago Public Schools District (CPS, or the ‘District’) has over 45,000 employees, all of whom are guaranteed a pension after retirement if they have met service time requirements. The teachers and some administrators participate in the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, while most non-teacher employees of CPS are members of the City of Chicago’s Municipal Employee Annuity and Benefit Fund. Both pension funds are substantially underfunded. Controversy over who bears the responsibility of meeting legally mandated pension payments to the two CPS employee pension funds has been a major feature of public discourse in recent years. This issue brief provides a foundational factual understanding of the pension plans at issue, who they serve, and their current financial condition.
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Keep up with the Civic Federation's latest research and recommendations on fiscal policy and other key issues facing our state and local governments.