Chicago Public Schools Fiscal Year 2015 Budget

Schools and Networks

 

One year ago, CPS introduced Student Based Budgeting (“SBB”), a school funding model that allocates funds to schools on a per-pupil basis.  SBB replaced the quota formulas that were used in the past to allocate teacher and school administrative positions to district-run schools.  SBB empowers principals, giving them the autonomy to use their SBB dollars to build an instructional program that meets the needs of their schools.  We introduced SBB with the belief that principals, working with their LSC’s, can make better decisions on how to use their resources than central office making quota decisions.  SBB also provides a unified funding formula that applies to both district and charter/contract schools, ensuring that funding is fair and equitable.

 

In FY15, the SBB Base Rate is Increasing by $250

Since FY11, CPS has reduced spending in central office, operations, and administration in order to invest money in the classroom.  Because of these efficiencies and despite yet another significant increase in pension costs, CPS is increasing the per pupil rate by $250.

 

We have added more than $69 million to the SBB allocation for teacher salary increases (including cost of living adjustment and lane and step increments).  We have also ensured that the one-time funds provided in FY14 to help schools transition to SBB remains available to schools, but now funds follow the students.

 

Together, these additions have allowed the district to increase the SBB base rate by $250, from $4,140 in FY14 to $4,390 in FY15.  This $250 increase represents a 6% increase to the SBB base rate and a direct investment in the classroom.

 

Although the majority of schools benefit from the increased SBB rate, some schools are experiencing a significant reduction in funding due to large decreases in enrollment over the last two years.  For most of these schools, the one-time transition funds provided in FY14 shielded them from the impact of declining enrollment in FY14.  With all of the SBB funding now following the students, we recognized that some schools with large declines in enrollment may have challenges in supporting their core educational programs.  Schools in this situation were able to apply for specific programmatic support.

 

All requests were submitted through their network chiefs, and reviewed by the Office of Network Support, with final decisions made by the Chief Executive Officer.  To date, 35 schools have received over $4.1 million in program support. 

 

ENROLLMENT

 

Enrollment projections become even more important when using SBB as the funding methodology.  In the aggregate, we are projecting relatively flat enrollment in FY15. As shown in Table 1, total enrollment in FY15 is expected to decrease by only 100 students.

 

Table 1:  FY14 Enrollment and FY15 Projected Enrollment by School Type

School Type	FY14 Actual (20th Day)			FY15 Projected
	Pre-K	K-12	Total	Pre-K	K-12	Total
Traditional district schools	22,364	316,135	338,499	22,050	312,228	334,278
Charter schools1	332	54,240	54,572	322	56,912	57,234
Contract schools	0	3,004	3,004	0	3,748	3,748
District specialty schools	975	1,527	2,502	967	1,514	2,481
District options schools	0	841	841	0	824	824
ALOP/SAFE school programs2	0	1,127	1,127	0	1,880	1,880
Total enrollment	23,671	376,874	400,545	23,339	377,106	400,445

 

Notes to table:

^{1 Charter school projections for FY15 do not include enrollment for Foundations and Kipp Ascend Primary, which were approved after enrollment was finalized.  However, they do include projected enrollment for two new campuses for Pathways in Education, which were originally approved as charter schools but later changed to ALOP programs.}

^{2 FY15 projections for Alternative Learning Options Program/SAFE programs do not include enrollment for new programs approved during the May 2014 board meeting, or for the new Pathways in Education campuses.}

 

SBB enrollment is projected to decline by 491 students.  SBB enrollment includes the K-12 enrollment at traditional district schools, charter schools, and contract schools. SBB enrollment at traditional district schools is projected to decline by 3,907 students, from 316,125 to 312,228. SBB enrollment at charter and contract schools is projected to increase by 3,416 students, from 57,244 to 60,660.

 

CPS is in the second year of expanding its Alternative Learning Options Programs (ALOP) to serve students who have dropped out of school and seek to return. CPS opened six new ALOP programs in FY14, expanding enrollment from 634 students in FY13 to 1,090 students in FY14. However, enrollment in the new ALOP programs increased throughout the year, reaching 1,939 by April 2014. This steady increase in enrollment throughout the school year is unusual; in most other schools, enrollment peaks around the 20th day and declines throughout the school year.

 

We expect the same pattern to hold for ALOP programs in FY15. We are projecting 1,835 ALOP students to be enrolled in ALOP programs at 20th day, but it is likely that enrollment will increase throughout FY15, especially with the opening of seven new ALOP programs.

 

Preschool enrollment is also projected to decline by 332 students, from 23,671 to 23,339. While these enrollment numbers reflect the official 20th day enrollment count and the projection for FY15, unlike K-12 schools enrollment is not the only factor that determines early childhood funding. CPS receives state Preschool for All (PFA) funding and federal Head Start funds which provide for a number of preschool seats that exceed 20th day enrollment projections. This is because the need is much greater than the number of students currently served and extensive outreach to reach at-risk families takes place throughout the year. Moreover, a number of preschool seats are initially left available at 20th day to guarantee spaces for children who must be placed throughout the school year, as the district is obligated to provide a seat for any student with an IEP once he or she turns three years of age. Entry of preschool students eligible for special education services occurs on a rolling basis throughout the school year.

 

NUMBER OF SCHOOLS

 

In late 2013, Barbara Byrd-Bennett charged an internal team with a seemingly simple task:  determining an official count of the number of schools in the District.  The official count was needed because various departments would count schools in different ways.

 

As a result of this work, a definition of a school was established.  A school:

 

• is officially authorized by the Chicago Board of Education;
• is based in one or more buildings inside the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago;
• has or will have one of the following governance structures:  a local school council, an appointed local school council, a board of directors, or a board of governors;
• employs at least one administrator to lead the school;
• employs at least one credentialed person to provide instruction to students;
• provides an appropriate curriculum for each grade level served that, at a minimum, meets all requirements of the Illinois State Code;
• requires progression towards a terminal grade level within a single school, regardless of physical location;
• is not defined under Illinois School Code as something other than a school (e.g., an Alternative Learning Opportunity Program is not a school); and
• has or is intended to have at least one actively enrolled student during the school year.

 

Based on the definition and standards set forth there are 658 schools in FY14, and we are expecting to have 665 schools in FY15.  Table 2 shows schools by school type.

 

Table 2:  Number of CPS Schools by School Type, FY14 and FY15

School Type	Description	FY14	FY15
Traditional district schools1	District-run schools funded through Student Based Budgeting	506	504
Charter schools2	Public schools managed by independent operators and certified under state charter law	126	132
Contract schools3	Public schools managed by independent operators under a contract with the District	9	11
District specialty schools	District-run schools that primarily serve students with significant diverse learning needs or early childhood students.	12	12
District options schools	District-run high schools for students in restricted environments or students who need educational alternatives to traditional high schools	4	4
SAFE school programs	Schools managed by independent operators for students who have been expelled from other schools due to violence	1	2
Total schools		658	665
Not counted as schools:
ALOP programs	Programs managed by independent operators that provide educational options for students who have dropped out of school and seek to return	8	15

Notes to table:

^{1 The FY14 Budget Book stated that there are 507 traditional district schools because it counted Spry Elementary and Spry Community Links High School as two separate schools.  These are now counted as one school, and the number of traditional district schools has been revised to 506.}

^{2 The FY14 Budget Book also stated that there are 106 charter schools because it treated YCCS as one charter school instead of 20.  Also, Frazier Preparatory Academy became a charter school in FY14, but was still counted as a contract school in the FY14 budget book.  With these revisions, the number of charter schools in FY14 is 126.}

^{3 The FY14 Budget Book stated that there are ten contract schools instead of nine because it mistakenly counted Frazier Preparatory Academy as a contract school.}

 

SCHOOL BUDGET OVERVIEW

 

The FY15 budget contains $3.7 billion budgeted at school units, including almost $2.1 billion budgeted for core instruction at 665 schools.  The following charts show how funds and positions are allocated among the major school types and across the main program areas:

 

Table 3:  FY15 School Budgets, by School Type and Funding Category

FY15 School Budgets (in $000's)	Core Instruction	Diverse Learners	Bilingual	Early Childhood	Other Programs	Discretionary	Operations	Total
District Elementary	$1,224,072	$378,414	$21,980	$105,227	$69,132	$260,106	$97,076	$2,156,007
District High Schools	467,203	125,224	3,073	176	54,518	79,885	38,563	768,642
Charter/Contract	345,277	64,148	657	0	5,716	78,533	171,752	666,083
Specialty	10,937	41,483	322	3,584	343	1,807	1,363	59,839
District Options*	15,377	3,906	0	0	207	895	296	20,681
ALOP/SAFE*	17,321	2,565	5	0	1,172	3,776	1,632	26,472
Non-Public	0	0	0	0	754	0	0	754
Total	$2,080,188	$615,741	$26,037	$108,988	$131,842	$425,001	$310,682	$3,698,478

 

Table 4:  FY15 Positions in School Budgets, by School Type and Funding Category

FY15 Positions at Schools (FTE’s)	Core Instruction	Diverse Learners	Bilingual	Early Childhood	Other Programs	Discretionary	Operations	Total
District Elementary	11,067.4	4,985.2	178.2	1,364.2	885.0	2,575.4	2,478.8	23,534.1
District High Schools	4,320.7	1,474.6	25.2	2.0	476.7	867.1	877.0	8,043.3
Charter/Contract	0.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	103.0	105.0
Specialty	88.6	574.1	3.0	44.0	5.3	7.0	30.0	752.0
District Options	130.2	38.0	0.0	0.0	3.0	1.8	8.0	181.0
ALOP/SAFE	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
Non-Public	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total	15,606.9	7,073.9	206.4	1,410.2	1,370.0	3,451.3	3,497.8	32,616.4

 

The following sections discuss Core Instruction Funding and Additional Funding Received by Schools, including funding for diverse learners, bilingual, early childhood, other programs, discretionary funds, and operations.

 

FUNDING FOR CORE INSTRUCTION

 

This section discusses funding for core instruction for each school type:  Traditional District Schools, Charter and Contract schools, Specialty Schools, District Options Schools, and ALOP and SAFE programs.

 

Traditional District Schools

Traditional district schools are the 505 district-run elementary and high schools that are funded through Student Based Budgeting. The only district-run schools that do not fall in this category are the 12 specialty schools and four district options schools, which are discussed in later sections.

 

Heading into FY15, the number of traditional district schools is decreasing by two as Canter Middle School and the High School of Leadership at South Shore phase-out at the end of FY14.

 

Enrollment at traditional district schools is projected to decrease by 3,907 students, or 1.24%.  However, SBB funding for these schools will increase by $15.9 million, or 1.06%.  In the aggregate, SBB funding at district schools is about 2.3% higher, when adjusted for enrollment changes.

 

Table 5:  SBB Funding at Traditional District Schools

Traditional District Schools	FY14 20th Day	FY15 Projected	Change	% Change
Number of schools	506	504	(2)
Number of K-12 students	316,135	312,228	(3,907)	(1.24%)
SBB funding, in millions	$1,493.9	$1,509.8	$15.9	1.06%

 

District schools spend approximately 93.5% of their SBB funds on teacher positions (including substitutes and extended day pay), 3.0% on educational support personnel, and 3.5% on non-personnel items.  The following table summarizes the positions that district schools have funded with their SBB funds.  These positions do not include the foundation positions that all district schools receive – one principal, one counselor, and one clerk.

 

Table 6:  Positions Budgeted by District Schools Using FY15 SBB Funds

Category	Job Title	FY15 No. of FTE’s
TEACHERS	Teachers	12,517.6
	Assistant Principals	510.8
	School Counselors / Social Workers / Nurse	164.9
	Coaches / Instructional Leaders / Other Teachers	34.3
EDUCATION SUPPORT PERSONNEL	Teacher Assistants	129.7
	School Clerks	125.2
	School Security Officers	70.6
	School Clerk Assistants	49.1
	Technology Coordinators	44.9
	Guidance Counselor Assistants	32.5
	Other Education Support Personnel	174.0
	TOTAL	13,853.6

 

Charter/Contract Schools

Charter and contract schools are public schools managed by independent operators.  First established in Chicago in 1997, they offer an alternative to traditional district-managed schools.  Charter schools are approved and certified under the Illinois Charter School Law.  Contract schools also are independently managed public schools with similar autonomies as charter schools in budget and curricular operations.  Both charter and contract schools are targeted in areas of the city identified as those in need of high-quality education options.

 

In FY14, the Illinois General Assembly created by House resolution a State Charter Funding Task Force to study the issue of funding equity for charter schools statewide.  The task force included representatives from charter schools, teacher unions, school districts (including CPS), education advocates, the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the Illinois State Charter Commission.  At the request of the task force, a subgroup of charter representatives and CPS staff conducted a detailed review of CPS’s funding methodology for charter schools.  The task force submitted a report to the General Assembly in February 2014.

 

The result of the subgroup’s work, which was included in the task force report, was more clarity around the District’s funding model, as outlined below, and after a few changes, a broad acceptance that CPS’s charter school funding model provides equity for operating funds.  Further details about the funding methodology and the modifications made are included in Appendix B: School Funding Methodology. 

 

As outlined in Chart 1, CPS provides tuition to charter schools in two components:  SBB and non-SBB.  Together, these tuition amounts provide charter schools with an equitable share of the District’s general funds budget.

 

Chart 1:  Overview of CPS Operating Budget for Charter Funding

 

SBB is the largest portion of the general funds budget, and it is allocated to all schools under the Student Based Budgeting model, which uses the same funding formulas for district and charter schools.  The general funds budget also includes some discrete funding categories that are considered district-wide shared obligations, such as the unfunded pension liability.  Charters do not receive tuition funding based on these shared obligations.  The remainder of the general funds budget is the non-SBB category, and it includes funding for operations, security, central office expenses, and education support programs.  The non-SBB tuition ensures that charter schools receive an equitable share of this spending.  Categorical funds are not included in either SBB or non-SBB tuition, but CPS ensures that charter schools receive an equitable share of each categorical funding source, where applicable.

 

In FY15, nine new charter and contract schools are expected to open, and one charter school will close at the end of FY14, for a net increase of eight charter and contract schools.  Two of the new schools will serve students who have dropped out of school and want to return.  Enrollment at charter and contract schools is expected to increase by more than 3,400 students, or 6.0%.

 

Table 7:  SBB and Non-SBB Tuition Funding at Charter/Contract Schools

Charter/Contract Schools	FY14 20th Day	FY15 Projected	Change
SBB funding, in millions	$315.9	$345.3	$29.4
Non-SBB funding, in millions	$106.8	$137.0	$30.2
Administrative fees (estimated), in millions	$0	($18.0)	($18.0)
Total general education tuition payments	$422.7	$464.3	$41.6

 

However, general education tuition payments (SBB and non-SBB, less administrative fee) to charter and contract schools will increase by $41.6 million, or almost 10%, in FY15.  This is more than can be explained by enrollment growth alone; the per-pupil rates for both SBB and non-SBB are increasing.  For SBB, the rate is increasing primarily because of the additional funds added to the SBB allocation for teacher salary increases.  For non-SBB, the net rate is increasing because the administrative fee is lower.  A new methodology is being implemented in FY 15 (described in Appendix B)--charging 3% of tuition—and this results in a significantly lower administrative fee than the methodology used in FY14.

 

Specialty Schools

Specialty schools serve primarily students with significant diverse learning needs, except for three early childhood centers that have only pre-kindergarten students.  Specialty schools include:

 

• One K-8 school serving only students with severe and profound disabilities (Montefiore)
• One K-8 school with approximately 50% gen ed classrooms and 50% cluster programs (Christopher)
• Three early childhood centers serving only pre-K students (Vick, Thomas, Stock)
• Three early childhood centers serving pre-K students, but where a significant number of diverse learners remain enrolled at the school for primary grades (Blair, Beard, Rudolph)
• Four high schools serving 100% diverse learners (Northside, Southside, Graham, and Vaughn).

 

In FY15, specialty schools will receive $10.9 million in funding for core instruction, which represents approximately 18% of their overall budgets of $59.8 million. Core instruction funding is increasing from $9.4 million in FY14 to $10.9 million in FY15, primarily because assistant principals are being funded as a general education position. In previous years, most assistant principals at specialty schools were funded with diverse learner funds.

 

The costs of these schools are significantly more than traditional schools when compared on a per-pupil basis to account for the specific needs of the diverse learners they serve.

 

District Options Schools

District options schools provide educational options to students in confinement, at risk of dropping out of school, or who have dropped out and wish to return. District schools include one school located at the Cook County Jail (York), one at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (Jefferson), one school serving pregnant women (Simpson), and one school serving students at risk of dropping out or returning dropouts (Peace & Education Coalition).

 

In FY15, district options schools will receive $15.4 million in funding for core instruction to serve an estimated 824 students, an increase from $14.5 million in FY14. District options schools are significantly more expensive than traditional schools because of the special circumstances of their student populations.

 

Alternative Learning Opportunity Programs (ALOP) / Safe School Programs

 

Alternative Learning Opportunity Programs provide different educational options for at-risk youth who are not currently enrolled in school.  Expanding educational options to re-engage the tens of thousands of youth who are not currently enrolled in school is a key district priority, aligning with Pillar 2 of the CEO’s five-year action plan.  Since 2011, CPS has expanded partnerships with successful providers that specialize in working with off-track youth and more than doubled the number of available seats in options schools.

 

In FY15, seven new ALOP programs will open, for a total of 15 ALOP programs.  In addition, 30 charter and contract schools and one district school serve the same population of at-risk youth who have dropped out of school and seek to return.

 

ALOP programs are technically not part of Student Based Budgeting, but we fund these programs using the same rates that charter and contract schools receive.

 

In FY14, CPS spent $12.6 million for ALOP. These programs served almost 1,100 students at the beginning of the year, and increased to 1,900 students by the fourth quarter. CPS has budgeted $15.7 million for ALOP tuition in FY15, plus another $1.4 million in contingency for expected growth, for a total of $17.1 million, an increase of more than 35%.

 

CPS is also opening a second Safe school, which provides an educational option to students who have been expelled from another CPS school due to violence.  The tuition cost for two Safe schools is $2.6 million, which is offset by a state Regional Safe Schools grant of approximately $975,000.

 

ADDITIONAL FUNDING RECEIVED BY SCHOOLS

 

Although funding for core instruction is typically the largest portion of a school’s budget, schools receive additional funding to meet specific student needs, including funding for diverse learners, bilingual students, early childhood students, other programs, discretionary funds, and school operations.

 

Diverse Learners

Schools receive special education teachers and special education aides (typically teacher assistants, special education classroom assistants and child welfare attendants) based on the number of minutes of specialized instruction that must be provided to the school’s special education students, as identified in their Individualized Education Program (IEP).

 

Allocations are determined by the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services.  In the FY15 budget, a total of $615.7 million is budgeted for diverse learners in school units, including more than 3,700 special education teachers and 3,300 special education aides.

 

Bilingual Education

Schools receive supplemental bilingual education teachers and per pupil funds based on their number of English language learner (ELL) students.  There are two programs:  Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE), for schools that have 20 or more ELL students of the same language background, and Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI), for schools that have fewer than 20 ELL students of the same language background.  Funding formulas for each program are provided in Appendix B.  The Office of Language and Cultural Education (OLCE) tracks ELL students and allocates supplemental bilingual teachers and funds to schools.

 

The FY15 budget contains $26.0 million in supplemental funding to schools, including 169 supplemental bilingual education teacher FTE’s and almost $7.5 million in per-pupil funding.  Bilingual education is supported by dedicated state and federal funding.

 

Early Childhood

The FY15 budget contains $109.0 million in funding for early childhood programs at 370 elementary schools.  Early childhood program serve pre-kindergarten students, usually ages 3 and 4.  Early childhood programs are funded from a state grant (Pre-School for All) and federal Head Start funds.  This amount also includes $6.8 million of Title I funding that is used for ten child-parent centers.

 

The FY15 budget also includes $4.1 million for tuition-based pre-K programs at 13 schools.  

 

Additional funding is provided to community-based providers for early childhood programs, as described more fully in the Early Childhood department narrative.

 

Other Programs

Some schools receive teaching positions or other additional funding for specific programs that are run at those schools.  The funding source for these programs is the general education fund. Significant programs include:

 

Table 8:  FY15 Board Funded Programs

Board-Funded Program	No. of Teacher Positions	No. of ESP Positions	FY15 Budget ($ millions)
Magnet Schools	161.8	1	$17.5
JROTC	153	0	$16.3
International Baccalaureate	109.5	5	$11.6
Magnet Cluster Programs	101	0	$11.1
Selective Enrollment HS	39	3	$4.7
Regional Gifted Centers	32.6	0	$3.6
Montessori Programs	21	31	$3.6
IB/STEM for Welcoming Schools	29.2	0	$3.1
Critical Language Initiative	32	0	$3.0
Classical Schools	20	1	$2.5
Totals	699.1	41	$77.0

 

Discretionary Funds 

Supplemental General State Aid (SGSA) is part of the General State Aid that the district receives from the State of Illinois. SGSA funds are designed to supplement regular and basic programs supported by the General Education Fund. SGSA funds are distributed to schools in proportion to the number of students enrolled who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch under federal statutes.

 

CPS is required to distribute $261 million in SGSA funds each year. SGSA funds are initially distributed based on the previous year’s count of free and reduced lunch students at each school, but the final SGSA amount will be determined by the current year count at the 20th day of the school year.

 

The FY15 budget includes $258.1 million of SGSA funds budgeted at schools. The remaining $2.9 million remains in contingency, awaiting 20th day SGSA adjustments.

 

Unspent SGSA funds at a school at the end of the year carry over to the next fiscal year. Beginning in FY14, we made an initial distribution of carryover funds in July based on end-of-year spending estimates, rather than wait until October as had historically been done. This initial distribution gives schools a substantial portion of their SGSA carryover before the beginning of the school year to plan and spend on academic programs early in the year.  A final reconciliation is still done in October, after the books have closed on the prior fiscal year. In FY14, schools received more than 70% of their SGSA carryover funds – $26.5 million of $36.5 million – in July.

 

In FY15, we will continue this new practice of releasing an estimated amount of SGSA carryover funds in July.

 

Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act provides funds to schools with high concentrations of low-income children to provide supplementary services for educationally disadvantaged students. Approximately 85 percent of CPS schools qualify for Title I discretionary funding. The FY15 budget contains $160.0 million in Title I discretionary funding for CPS schools.

 

Schools use these dollars to fund additional teacher positions, as well as other supplemental services. For FY15, district schools allocated their SGSA funds 57.4% to teachers, 32.3% to other non-teaching positions, and 10.3% on non-personnel costs.  For Title I, they allocated 72.2% to teachers, 15.8% to other non-teaching positions, and 12.0% to non-personnel costs.  The number of teaching positions is detailed below.

 

Table 9:  Teacher FTE’s Obtained with School Discretionary Funds

Teacher FTEs Obtained with Discretionary Funds	FY14 Budget	FY15 Budget
SGSA	1,085	1,172.7
Title I	886	899.8
Total	1,971	2,072.5

 

Non-Education Expenses

Schools receive additional positions, services and funding for operational expenses. In recent years, however, many of these positions are now managed centrally, rather than in schools, to gain district-wide efficiency and savings. Among the positions now managed centrally are bus aides, engineers, and custodians. While improving district operations, these shifts make it difficult to compare the non-educational budgets from year to year by simply looking at what funding is budgeted at schools. 

 

• Security: School security officers and security aides are assigned to schools by the Office of Safety and Security.  Security positions are budgeted in school units.
• Food Service: This includes the labor costs of the lunchroom staff; the food costs required to provide lunch, and usually breakfast, are budgeted centrally.
• Building operations and maintenance:  Since FY13, building engineers have been staffed centrally rather than in school budgets.  In FY15, we are taking the same approach with custodians; for the first time, custodians are being budgeted centrally and will not appear in school budgets.

 

Please refer to the department narratives for more details about each of these operational areas.

 

Private Schools

Student, teachers and parents of private schools students are eligible for federal support through No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). CPS must set aside a share of the federal funds it receives to make services available to eligible students, teachers and parents, but funds do not go to the private schools. Instead, CPS operates the programs on behalf of these eligible students, teachers and parents.

 

Each year, CPS oversees and manages services for approximately 60,000 students in 240 private schools totaling approximately $21 million. In addition, we oversee services for children who attend seven residential sites that specialize in serving children under the guardianship of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

 

The following chart shows the proportionate shares directed to private schools for each of the federal programs. FY15 amounts are projections; the final amounts will be determined only after the district’s FY15 application is approved by the Illinois State Board of Education.

 

Table 10:  FY15 Budget for Private School Programs

Federal Program	FY14 Budget	FY15 Budget
Title I (Improving Academic Achievement of Disadvantaged Students)	$12,390,090	$13,594,638
Title IIA (Improving Teacher Quality)	2,134,182	5,097,615
Title IIA (Leadership Grant)	0	0
Title III (English Language Learners)	357,942	314,254
Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)	1,153,621	2,063,309
Total	$16,035,835	$21,069,816

 

NETWORKS

 

District-run schools are organized into networks, which provide administrative support, strategic direction, and leadership development to the schools within the network.

 

Networks are led by network chiefs, who are responsible for building effective schools with strong leaders by developing a professional development plan, collecting and assessing data to drive interventions, collaborating on best practices with other networks and enhancing community and parental involvement.  Networks are supported by deputy chiefs, data strategists, instructional support leaders for each content area, and administrative support.  Each network also has a Family and Community Engagement Coordinator and a Specialized Services Administrator, although these positions now appear in the budget for the Family and Community Engagement and the Office of Diverse Learners, respectively. All network chiefs and their offices report to the Office of Network Support. 

 

In November 2013, networks were restructured into their current configuration.  There are 13 networks that manage schools in various different geographic regions of the city.  All networks are K-12, managing both elementary schools and high schools.  In addition, the Office of Strategic School Support Services (OS4), the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), and Service Leadership Academies also function as networks.  Schools managed by OS4 or AUSL, as well as the six military academies, do not belong to any of the 13 geographic networks.  Table 12 shows the various city planning zones covered by the current networks:

 

Table 11:  Current Network Structure

Network	Planning Zones
1	Sauganash, Reed-Dunning, Albany Irving
2	Ravenswood
3	Austin, Belmont-Cragin
4	Logan, Lincoln Park
5	Humboldt Park, Garfield, West Humboldt, North Lawndale
6	Near North, Near West, Loop, Bridgeport, Chinatown
7	Pilsen, Little Village
8	McKinley Park
9	Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn
10	Beverly, Midway, Chicago Lawn, Ashburn
11	Englewood, Auburn-Gresham
12	Chatham, South Shore
13	Far South, Far East
AUSL
OS4
Service Leadership Academies

 

The network restructuring that occurred in FY14 reduced the number of geographic networks from 18 to 13, and significantly lowered the headcount across all networks.  The expected savings of $4.4 million from reduced personnel costs were achieved.  Further reductions in FY 15 are expected since the new network structure will be in place for the entire year.

 

For FY15, the 13 geographic networks will have $17 million in positions costs and $3.6 million in non-personnel costs, bringing the total network budget for FY15 to $20.6 million. All non-personnel cost are funded through general education funds, while positions are funded through general education, Title I and Title II funds.

 

Table 12:  Total Budgets for 13 Networks

Network Budgets (in millions)	FY14	FY15
Personnel costs	$20.4	$17.0
Non-personnel expenses	$4.2	$3.6
Total	$24.6	$20.6