Chicago Board of Education Vice President Angel Velez said CPS faces a funding crisis "unlike anything we've seen before."
"A budget gap of 700 million to a billion dollars threatens to devastate our classrooms and strip away the very programs that help our students thrive: counselors, bilingual coordinators, interventionists, sports teams, music programs and after school, tutoring, all are all at risk," he said.
Chicago Public Schools told principals this week that the district plans to cut the number of teachers, and some assistant principals, to help shrink the deficit. Board members said this could result in bigger class sizes and less attention per student.
Now, the Board is asking the Illinois General Assembly to fully fund the evidence based school formula (EBF), which distributes state education funds based on student needs rather than just property wealth, aiming to close adequacy gaps.
"This budget gap will disproportionately harm our Black and Latino students and working families. At the same time our legislators are debating whether to subsidize an $8 billion NFL franchise with tax incentives," Velez said.
Last month the Illinois House passed the megaprojects bill, which and aims to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois.
Board Member Debby Pope said investing in the NFL but not Chicago public schools tells students that Illinois prioritizes football over their education.
"We cannot allow mega projects to destroy public education," she said. "We cannot tell our children, 'No, we do not have enough for you because we are building a beautiful new stadium.' What kind of a message is that to our young people?"
