Chicago Public Schools made a $658 million payment to the teachers pension fund Thursday, a check fund officials say is about $12 million light.
The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund says the district owed it about $669 million on Thursday to settle a gargantuan — and growing — annual pension tab that has hamstrung CPS’ ability to make ends meet and prompted considerable debate between city leaders and state government.
The dispute over how much is owed stems from a difference over how a state contribution to local teacher pensions can be credited to the district’s bill. The district’s position, a CPS spokeswoman said, was that it paid its full obligation to the pension fund.
“I respect them, but I disagree with them,” said Charles Burbridge, executive director of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund.
The district’s payment, while less than the fund thinks it is owned, will not have a significantly adverse effect, Burbridge said. He stressed that the issue is “not an adversarial dispute.”
“In the scheme of things, $12 million is not a grave issue. It’s something that we’ll work out,” Burbridge said. “It’s a heck of a lot better than a pension holiday.”
Burbridge was referring to the many years the state allowed the district to skip its pension payment altogether.
CPS has warned this year’s pension payment will leave the district with only enough cash to cover less than two days of business. However, the district acknowledged this week that its short-term cash picture “modestly improved” after a series of cost-cutting measures taken during the past school year.
A district spokeswoman said that CPS has roughly $80 million in operating cash after making Thursday’s payment.
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