Claypool: Without State Funding CPS Schools Won't Open in Fall

The head of Chicago Public Schools says without a state education budget schools will not be able to open their doors in the fall. 

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool told the Chicago Tribune that the district does not have the money to open the schools and can't borrow funding because of low credit ratings. 

The warning comes from CPS one day after lawmakers failed to pass a budget once again, leaving Illinois with no funding for K-12 schools. 

Claypool previously called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to work with lawmakers to pass a state budget favorable to Chicago, but the governor has a different spending plan in mind. 

Rauner has been pushing his stopgap spending plan that he calls a “clean” education bill that isn’t a bail-out for CPS. 

The plan would increase education funding statewide by $55 million, according to the Chicago Tribune, but school district officials say it would mean a $74 million cut for Chicago schools and result in classroom cuts averaging 26 percent. 

CPS wants a plan that Chicago lawmakers voted for and would send millions to Chicago and other low-income school districts, but those bills weren't passed by the democratic super majority. In an email sent to parents and supporters, Claypool urged them to also reach out to lawmakers in the fight for funding. 

“Now we need the governor to end his strategy of pitting one region against another and fix the funding for all the districts suffering under Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation approach,” CPS spokesperson Emily Bittner said in a statement Thursday morning. 

In an email sent to parents and supporters, Claypool urged others to reach out to lawmakers. 

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