Ahead of a consequential vote, school board members aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union are considering a budget amendment to increase the district’s assumed state revenue and reverse school-level cuts.
But Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King criticized the plan in a lengthy statement Wednesday, arguing that it could leave CPS without enough money later in the year. The district is “on the knife’s edge,” she said.
“We will continue to advocate with our partners at all levels of government to get the funding we know our students need,” King said. “But trying to balance the budget on unrealized state revenue at the 11th hour would be a mistake with devastating short-and-long-term consequences.”
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The state’s budget passed in June without additional funding for CPS, and district officials say they have been given no indication that new dollars are coming. The district’s proposed $9.96 billion spending plan includes the layoffs of more than 700 teachers, department cuts and a midyear spending freeze.
It’s unclear how much new money the amendment would assume, or where the state would find those dollars after closing its own $2.2 billion deficit.
Still, CTU has continued pressing Springfield to intervene, and the union appeared to make some headway Wednesday. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch told CTU members at an Illinois Federation of Teachers board meeting that he would push for additional CPS funding during the fall veto session.
“You’ve got my support 110%,” Welch said. He didn’t elaborate on his plans or how he would carry them out.
Earlier this week, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates urged the board to reject the budget as it stands, calling it a “first draft” and noting it “would cause permanent harm to Chicago’s students.”
A simple majority of the 21-member board is needed to pass CPS’ 2026-27 budget. CTU-backed members currently hold a majority on the board, largely because 11 were appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer.
The district already upped assumed revenue from special taxing districts on Tuesday to avoid furloughs following pressure from staff unions.
CPS last passed a budget banking on unconfirmed state money in 2017. The district was counting on additional revenue from a bill that had passed the state legislature, but then-Gov. Bruce Rauner ultimately vetoed it. King was a CPS principal at the time, and she said she was “forced to re-open my budget, cancel programming, and lay off staff.”
“All of this is avoidable,” King said Wednesday. “We should never subject our educators, students, and communities to that level of instability again.”
CPS is asking school board members to pass the budget Thursday, a month before the state-mandated deadline, in part to secure short-term borrowing to ease cash-flow issues. If the budget is not approved, district leaders say, CPS won’t be able to make payroll in September.
A new member on the board
Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson moved to fill a long-vacant seat on the school board Wednesday — though the timing of the appointment means the new member won’t be able to participate in the budget showdown.
Johnson tapped Connie Anderson, a paralegal and high school robotics coach, to represent District 10B on the Southeast Side. Anderson filed to run for the seat in the November election and was endorsed by the CTU, the mayor’s close ally.
No swearing-in was listed on the board’s agenda Wednesday. A spokesperson for the board office said Anderson would be sworn in at future meeting.
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It’s the second consecutive year that Johnson has appointed a school board member on the eve of a budget vote. Last August, he announced the appointment of Angel Velez, now the board’s vice president, just one day before the board voted on the district’s spending plan. That budget fight centered on a disputed pension payment and a short-term, high-cost loan — both backed by Johnson and both left out of the final proposal.
Anderson is a parent of CPS graduates and works as a real estate tax paralegal, according to her LinkedIn. She led the development of three student robotics teams in CPS, and has served as an executive board member for Friends of Ogden International School for 13 years, the mayor’s office said.
“Connie Anderson is a tireless advocate for our students, educators, and school communities, and I could not be prouder to welcome her to the Chicago Board of Education,” Johnson said in a news release Wednesday.
Anderson replaces Olga Bautista, a longtime community organizer who stepped down in early March after receiving a sabbatical award.
Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner contributed.