Chicago Public Schools principals received their 2017-18 budgets today, and the financial details included $300 million in funding from the state of Illinois.
That news comes in spite of a promise by Governor Bruce Rauner that he will use an amendatory veto on Senate Bill 1, which would impact CPS funding this fall.
The budget proposes that the district will spend nearly $4300 per student in the new year, and the new budget also reflects that 8000 fewer students are expected to enroll in schools when the year begins.
“We are very fortunate that there is no cut, and there is additional funding to provide for our priority group students,” Galileo Academy Principal Jodi Pinkerton said.
After settling on a budget deal earlier this month, lawmakers are expected to be called back to Springfield soon to deal with the school funding issue. If a new funding bill is not passed, schools throughout the state could face a challenge when it comes to opening for the new school year, but Chicago has insisted that its schools will open no matter what.
That insistence was met with skepticism by Chicago Teacher’s Union president Karen Lewis, who criticized the new budget.
“For the third year in a row, CPS leaders have provided a budget to schools without having any ideas how they will pay for it,” she said in a statement.
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SB-1 is not on the governor’s desk yet, but amidst the certainty that he will use an amendatory veto on the legislation, lawmakers are trying to corral the votes necessary to override the veto when and if it comes.