Chicago Public Schools Budget Ignites Dispute Over Pension Payments

CHICAGO (WLS) — A battle is brewing over whether Chicago Public Schools or the city responsible for a $175 million pension payment.

Passage of a CPS budget is likely to hinge on how school board members answer that question.

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Armed with books, binders, and backpacks, the Chicago Teachers Union is prepping for a weekend school supply giveaway. Chicago Public Schools students are set to return to classrooms on Monday as the school board deliberates the advantages and disadvantages of a balanced budget proposed by CPS on Wednesday. The sticking point remains a municipal pension payment.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates stated, “The pension payment in question affects the lowest-paid employees in Chicago public schools. I find it offensive and insulting. It must be paid. Our responsibility as the union is to urge them to make the payment.”

CPS has committed to include the payment in its budget, but only if additional funds are received from the city and state. Without this assistance, CPS warns that the district may face classroom cuts. Presently, the proposed budget avoids any reductions.

READ MORE | CPS presents balanced budget that does not include classroom cuts or taking out loan

The pension fund includes CPS and city employees. State law requires the city to pay for it, but the city faces it own budget deficit.

Ald. Jason Ervin, Chair of the Chicago City Council Budget Committee, remarked, “This issue is about disentanglement. The school district aspires to operate independently. The state desires the same but simultaneously burdens us with their debt. This is unfair to Chicago’s citizens.”

In 2027, CPS will no longer be controlled by the mayor.

Ald. Ervin, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and his appointed school board members are in favor of CPS handling the payment, yet CPS, along with the mayor’s chosen interim CEO Macquline King, refuses to secure a short-term, high-interest loan to cover the cost.

34th Ward Ald. Bill Conway noted, “Around a year ago, the previous CPS CEO, Pedro Martinez, together with the mayor’s selected board, reached the same determination, resulting in the firing of that CEO and the mass resignation of the school board.” Was a forward-looking plan ever in place?

Ald. Conway blames the mayor for allowing the controversy over the pension payment to become an issue again. Davis Gates blames the state for not fully funding CPS.

“I think the state of Illinois should be sending the money that they owe the Chicago public schools so it’s not a hot potato between the district and the city,” Davis Gates said.