CPS will lay off 760 teachers and cut 5 student non-attendance days as district looks to close budget deficit
<p>Chicago Public Schools leaders announced drastic plans Wednesday to close the district’s massive deficit, including laying off 760 teachers, 801 teacher aides and 162 central office and citywide staff.</p><p>The district also plans to freeze spending midyear and furlough staff for five days that students were not supposed to be in attendance, such as those that were set aside for planning, training or report card pickup.</p><p>Not paying staff for five days would save the district around $85 million, but staff would experience a 2.3% pay cut, which for the average teacher translates to about $2,300.</p><p>CPS has not furloughed staff in a decade, and the CTU and other staff unions are likely to challenge them, as they would eliminate some of their negotiated pay raises.</p><p>District officials said the spending freeze and furloughs won’t take place until the second half of the school year and could be prevented if the city, county or state comes up with more money for CPS — likely a bid to capture the attention of lawmakers and other officials who have so far ignored pleas for more funding.</p><p>On Wednesday, CPS Supt. Macquline King said that the district “is facing serious financial challenges” and there are tradeoffs in the budget.</p><p>“These are all impacts that are disruptive to the education of our students, the learning experience, and ultimately the academic outcomes that we're projecting for next year,” said King, who is also the district’s CEO.</p><p>Still, she described it as a “responsible” and “entirely student-centered” budget that would prevent the district from taking on more debt and interest payments, which would hurt future classroom spending.
Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓
<p>Chicago Public Schools leaders announced drastic plans Wednesday to close the district’s massive deficit, including laying off 760 teachers, 801 teacher aides and 162 central office and citywide staff.</p><p>The district also plans to freeze spending midyear and furlough staff for five days that students were not supposed to be in attendance, such as those that were set aside for planning, training or report card pickup.</p><p>Not paying staff for five days would save the district around $85 million, but staff would experience a 2.3% pay cut, which for the average teacher translates to about $2,300.</p><p>CPS has not furloughed staff in a decade, and the CTU and other staff unions are likely to challenge them, as they would eliminate some of their negotiated pay raises.</p><p>District officials said the spending freeze and furloughs won’t take place until the second half of the school year and could be prevented if the city, county or state comes up with more money for CPS — likely a bid to capture the attention of lawmakers and other officials who have so far ignored pleas for more funding.</p><p>On Wednesday, CPS Supt. Macquline King said that the district “is facing serious financial challenges” and there are tradeoffs in the budget.</p><p>“These are all impacts that are disruptive to the education of our students, the learning experience, and ultimately the academic outcomes that we're projecting for next year,” said King, who is also the district’s CEO.</p><p>Still, she described it as a “responsible” and “entirely student-centered” budget that would prevent the district from taking on more debt and interest payments, which would hurt future classroom spending. And she noted that some of the district’s financial problems are not of its own making.</p><p>“Enrollment is declining while, at the same time, the needs of our students are growing,” she said. “Funding at the state and federal level has not kept up with these growing needs.”</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-7f0000" name="image-7f0000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c8d720b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5418x3041+0+287/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2F10%2Fceba3e4c4d4fb84af168cd74faf0%2Fcpsboardvendors-260709-020.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4de5e52/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5418x3041+0+287/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2F10%2Fceba3e4c4d4fb84af168cd74faf0%2Fcpsboardvendors-260709-020.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c82faf5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5418x3041+0+287/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2F10%2Fceba3e4c4d4fb84af168cd74faf0%2Fcpsboardvendors-260709-020.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Chicago Public Schools Supt.
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- <p>Chicago Public Schools leaders announced drastic plans Wednesday to close the district’s massive deficit, including laying off 760 teachers, 801 teacher aides and 162 central office and citywide staff.</p><p>The district also plans to freeze spending midyear and furlough staff for five days that students were not supposed to be in attendance, such as those that were set aside for planning, training or report card pickup.</p><p>Not paying staff for five days would save the district around $85 million, but staff would experience a 2.3% pay cut, which for the average teacher translates to about $2,300.</p><p>CPS has not furloughed staff in a decade, and the CTU and other staff unions are likely to challenge them, as they would eliminate some of their negotiated pay raises.</p><p>District officials said the spending freeze and furloughs won’t take place until the second half of the school year and could be prevented if the city, county or state comes up with more money for CPS — likely a bid to capture the attention of lawmakers and other officials who have so far ignored pleas for more funding.</p><p>On Wednesday, CPS Supt. Macquline King said that the district “is facing serious financial challenges” and there are tradeoffs in the budget.</p><p>“These are all impacts that are disruptive to the education of our students, the learning experience, and ultimately the academic outcomes that we're projecting for next year,” said King, who is also the district’s CEO.</p><p>Still, she described it as a “responsible” and “entirely student-centered” budget that would prevent the district from taking on more debt and interest payments, which would hurt future classroom spending.
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- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
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CPS will lay off 760 teachers and cut 5 student non-attendance days as district looks to close budget deficit
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times