The Civic Federation opposes legislation under consideration by the Illinois General Assembly that would create a 21-member elected Chicago School Board. The proposal would establish a governing board that would: be too large to be effective; lead to expensive and divisive political campaigns funded by interest groups; allow the legislature to create gerrymandered electoral districts; not…
In a recent analysis of the Chicago Public Schools FY2021 budget, the Civic Federation supported the District’s proposed $8.4 billion budget. However, the Federation expressed serious concerns about the budget’s reliance on $343 million in uncertain federal funding not yet approved by Congress and that several of the District’s revenue sources that have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. SUMMARY Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago Public Schools had reached more stable financial footing than in previous years due to an influx in State-approved funding. Public Act 100-0456, passed in August 2017, instituted the new Evidence-Based Funding formula for statewide P-12 education funding,…
In March Congress passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the third federal coronavirus relief act, which among many other things provided $13.2 billion in funding to K-12 schools across the country.[1] The funding can be spent on programs and coronavirus response including: Technological support for remote learning; Cleaning schools; Providing meals; and Services and outreach for low income…
As discussed in a previous blog post, the unprecedented public health emergency brought on by coronavirus has led local governments in Illinois to enact emergency measures and loosen rules related to the Open Meetings Act. Local government bodies have been meeting remotely pursuant to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Executive Order 2020-07 issued on March 16. In the absence of normal meetings and…
The Chicago Board of Education adopted an amended budget for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) 2020 fiscal year on November 20, 2019 to account for changes reflected in the collective bargaining agreements reached between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for FY2020 through FY2024. The CPS fiscal year runs from July 1…
The Chicago Public Schools FY2020 Budget is an example of fund-based budgeting. Collected revenues are assigned to different funds intended to support various governmental functions. The interactive chart below is a Sankey diagram showing the flow of revenues through funds and to the District’s expenditures. A full analysis of the CPS FY2020 proposed budget can be found here. The data is…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. Click here to see a diagram of CPS revenues and expenses. SUMMARY The Civic Federation supports the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) proposed budget for FY2020 because it demonstrates continued financial stability in the third year of Evidence-Based Funding from the State of Illinois. However, the…
This year is the third year that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will receive funding from the State of Illinois through the statewide Evidence-Based Funding formula that was signed into State law in August 2017. The CPS 2020 fiscal year runs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. The Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula is more equitable than the prior General State Aid formula. It calculates…
The newly appointed Chicago Public Schools Board of Education has made several changes to the meeting structure at the monthly board meetings and, for the first time, livestreamed the board meeting held on July 24, 2019. This was the second board meeting for the seven new board members appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The new board has expressed its commitment to making Board of Education…
