Michael Sitkowski News Today

A lot of high-functioning public schools are losing teachers and money in order to prop up floundering neighborhood schools in a dramatically new CPS budget.

More than $5.8 billion of the $7.8 billion in federal funds awarded to Illinois schools since March 2020 has been spent. In Chicago, the school system faces a $391 million shortfall for the 2024-25 school year.

Chicago Public Schools officials will have to find $391 million in additional funding by next summer or face cuts across the school system in the face of a massive structural budget deficit.

District leaders and Board of Education officials have warned of a financial cliff approaching next school year. Federal COVID-19 relief funds had papered over a structural deficit that officials estimate will reach $691 million. Only $300 million in federal funding is left to offset that,

Chicago education advocates and board members discussed the 2024 Chicago Public Schools budget this week. The Chicago school board is expected to vote on the budget June 28.

District officials have repeatedly warned about leaner budgets ahead. By 2024, the district will spend down its $2.8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief, which has given it a financial cushion.

Principals group upset about CPS budget proposal: ‘Outraged at the callousness and neglect’