Chicago Public Schools Maintains Classroom Spending to Continue Historic Academic Growth

CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Wednesday posted a proposed $9.9 billion fiscal year 2025 District budget that protects the critical investments driving improved student academic performance and supports educational equity across the District. The CPS budget, covering the educational and operational mission of the District and its more than 600 schools, can now be viewed on the District’s website in advance of budget hearings next week and the Board of Education’s monthly meeting Thursday, July 25.

While closing a deficit that grew to $505 million for FY25, the District has put forward a budget that protects the strategic classroom investments that have bolstered strong academic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as seen through two consecutive years of elementary student gains on state and local assessments, increased high school graduation rates, and an increased number - now nearly half - of CPS graduates leaving high school with college credits and other credentials that support their next steps in college and careers.

“This budget very clearly puts teaching and learning front and center where it belongs,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “For the first time ever we are setting foundational teacher and staffing positions that can be expected at every school in our District while also adding more resources to those schools serving students with the greatest needs.”

Individual school budgets make up the largest portion of the District’s overall budget and will see an additional $149 million in funding in FY25 over the FY24 budget. Most of this cost is driven by required services for special education students ($62 million), statutorily-driven funding increases to charter schools ($42 million), and increased bilingual services ($7 million). The FY25 increase is on top of a $243 million increase in FY24. CPS’ school budgets have seen an increase of more than $630 million since FY22.

Foundational Funding for Every School
The District’s new budget model sets a first-time standard for what every CPS school deserves in terms of the number of educators and support staff. No matter their type, location, or size, this year’s school budgets allocate funding for every school to have the following:

• a principal
• an assistant principal
• a school clerk
• at least one counselor
• a minimum baseline of core teachers and holistic teachers to support their students and deliver rich, engaging programming

Under this new budget model, every CPS elementary school will have at least three holistic teachers - one for the arts, one for physical education, and one that principals can use for a position of their choice, be it a world language teacher, a STEM specialist, a librarian, or another type of educator to meet their school’s unique needs. This is a landmark change from prior years, where some CPS schools lacked the resources to hire teachers for these holistic subject areas.

The FY25 funding aims to support the priorities that school communities have told the District are critical to their success, including:

• Reasonable class sizes.
• Limited split classrooms.
• Access to high-quality arts education.
• Intervention supports, including the hiring of nurses, counselors, social workers, academic interventionists, tutors, and advocates for students in temporary living situations (STLS).
• Funding for local-level priorities.

By allocating a baseline of resources to every school, the FY25 budget establishes a new standard across the board, ensuring that all schools can offer rich programming and a high-quality education. Comparisons to last year’s school budgets are not possible because the new budget model guarantees staff positions - regardless of cost - versus past years when guaranteed school positions were more limited and supplemented by an allocation of discretionary funds.

Funding Based on Student Need
CPS uses an analytical tool called the Opportunity Index to determine the level of need within a school community. This tool considers 12 community, demographic, and historical factors to analyze differences in access to opportunity.

In prior years, CPS used the Opportunity Index to help allocate additional counselors and instructional coaches to high-need schools. This year, CPS expanded the use of this tool, leveraging the data to allocate even more resources according to student need. These resources include:

• Additional teacher positions
• Tutors
• Social and emotional supports
• Restorative justice coordinators, and
• Discretionary funds

Increasing Support for Priority Populations
The District expects to serve more students in FY25 for the second consecutive year. Following a slight 0.4 percent uptick in fiscal year 2023, the District’s enrollment grew to about 328,000 students during the most recent school year, up from 323,291 students on the 20th day of enrollment in fall 2023. Updated figures will be released following the 20th day of the FY25 school year.

In addition to serving more students, the District is also serving more students with greater needs, including 12,000 additional students in temporary living situations, 10,000 more English Learners, and an additional 4,000 students with disabilities identified in FY24 compared to FY23.

Sixty-nine percent of the FY25 budget goes toward staff salaries and benefits to serve students. The District has budgeted for a total of 45,965 full-time employees (FTE), an increase of 805 FTE from FY24 across all categories, with allocations that include an additional:

• 513 teachers, driven by the District’s need-based school funding model, growth in special education teachers, and bilingual teachers;
• 337 school support staff primarily driven by additional paraprofessionals, restorative justice coordinators, and other school-based personnel.

Funding Challenges
Due to the pending expiration of federal relief funding, CPS faced an initial projected budget deficit of $391 million for FY25. Additional cost pressures in healthcare and required special education resources added $104 million to the deficit for a final $505 million gap.

To balance the FY25 budget and protect funding in school budgets, CPS conducted a rigorous review of opportunities to find efficiencies, maximize grant funding, and reduce spending across central office departments. The District made departmental cuts, reducing allocations to central academic and operational department budgets for a total of $197 million. It identified nearly the same amount - $196 million - by leveraging federal grant carryover funds, new grant funding and increased vacancy savings. Another $112 million was identified through debt restructuring, reduced central office staffing, reduced need for supplemental class size reduction funding due to the new budget model, and reduced short-term borrowing costs.

Despite these adjustments, at 8.43 billion, the FY25 operating budget is nearly the same as FY24, with 95 percent of these funds directly supporting schools. A broader capital budget than last year accounts for a nearly $500 million budget increase but is vital to keeping facilities operating safely and smoothly.

Supporting a High-Quality Pre-K-12 Education
CPS offers a high-quality daily student experience and rigorous education for every student. In recent years, the District has expanded critical full-time early childhood options across the city, increasing the number of seats available for full-day preschool for every four-year-old in 76 of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods, starting with the most under-resourced neighborhoods. The FY25 early childhood budget allocates the funding to support these offerings with a focus on ensuring the Pre-K and primary journey is aligned and seamless. The literacy proficiency rates of Pre-k through second grade students quadrupled over the course of last school year and the District aims to continue that upward trajectory.

CPS now has seats for more than 15,000 full-day preschoolers and through an intentional campaign last year added 1,000 students compared to the prior school year, recovering from the drop in preschool enrollment that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. CPS will also continue to enhance and expand family engagement programming for families of young children.

The District was recognized earlier this year for posting the top reading gains among elementary students in FY23 among 40 of the largest urban districts in the country and ranked third for the gains elementary students made in both reading and math. Preliminary state assessment data showed those gains continued this past spring (FY24). The academic recovery strategies that helped drive those gains will continue during the 2024-25 school year.

“When given adequate resources, CPS showed that we will make wise investments that support teaching and learning,” said Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova. “But we should not need a pandemic to increase public education funding. We must continue to work toward a future where public education is valued as the most foundational part of a thriving society.”

In addition to adding more than 800 full-time positions over FY24, the District is maintaining many of the key strategic investments, including interventionists and tutors to help students in reading and math, academic coaches to improve teaching, out-of-school time programming, and a continued focus on a well-rounded education that includes the arts, athletic programming and social-emotional supports that are both embedded in instruction and provided separately.

The FY25 budget continues to support a rigorous high school education with advanced coursework, college and career planning, internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing opportunities and partnerships with higher education partners that help students earn college credits while simultaneously earning their high school degree. In 2024, a record-breaking 770 graduating seniors earned more than 15 early college credits, up from 2022 when more than 460 seniors earned 15 or more college credits. Programming through the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) and several additional higher education partners are expanding student opportunities both during and following their high school graduation.

This work, overseen by the Office of College and Career Success (OCCS), will also continue to improve and expand Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to offer students the opportunity to explore industry certification opportunities, marketable skills and a career-connected curriculum.

Student Safety and Well Being

The FY25 budget maintains key strategies to support safety and security at all District-managed schools. The Office of Safety and Security (OSS) will continue to engage school administrators, staff, students, and community partners in the expansion of the Whole School Safety Planning Policy to all schools which includes approximately $10 million in proactive safety resources such as building out the District’s mental health support system and expanding social-emotional learning (SEL) resources for students and staff through additional staff, professional development, targeted interventions, and partnerships.

In the CPS Three-Year Blueprint, CPS recommitted to ensuring policies and resources are in place to support the whole child. CPS made intentional investments during the 2022-23 school year in targeted, culturally-responsive, trauma-engaged interventions, such as increased mental health services and expanded de-escalation and restorative justice training. CPS continues to invest in these initiatives, programs, and services to support students’ emotional safety and well-being, with expanded funding for restorative justice and climate coordinators and putting Behavioral and Mental Health Teams in every school to ensure an equity-based and healing-centered response to student behavior.

The District operates intense outreach programs like Choose to Change and Back to Our Future in collaboration with community-based organizations that help provide intense comprehensive services to help students get back on track, which includes getting them back to school. Choose to Change provided mentoring and cognitive behavioral intervention services to more than 1,300 students during FY24. Similarly OSS will work to develop and implement a third year of services under the Back to Our Future program for those students who have disconnected from school. Since the program’s inception in August 2022, more than 560 students have consented into the program.

Continued Focus on Improving Special Education Services

CPS continues its intentional and focused effort to improve direct programming and services that will better serve students with disabilities which make up about 15 percent of the District’s student population. The District’s FY25 budget for the Office for Students with Disabilities reflects that effort with a total of $1.4 billion allocated toward better serving this important segment of the student population. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) ensures that students with disabilities receive high-quality instruction in their general education classrooms, only being separated from their general education peers when absolutely necessary. The department will continue to improve its support of teachers, paraprofessionals, and school leaders to provide high-quality teaching and learning for students with disabilities in all settings. The budget funds an additional 900 positions at schools - for a total of nearly 12,000 positions - to support the increased enrollment of students with Individualized Education Program minutes to ensure these students’ needs are met.

Multilingual and Multicultural Supports

The FY25 budget allocates more than $77 million in funding, the majority going to schools, for the Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education (OMME) to provide every student access to a multilingual education. This department’s budget allocation grew by more than $10 million in the past year as the District served more English Learners and continued to support Dual Language programs and pathways for more students to achieve the State Seal of Biliteracy by the time they reach their senior year of high school. Outside of the classroom, OMME provides support services for refugee students and families who have recently arrived in the United States.

In the past school year, the English Learner population grew by about 10,000 students to 88,000 students or 27 percent of the District’s student population. Funding allocations allow for school-based supplemental positions in Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) and Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) programs in response to the increased EL enrollment across the District and provides supplemental positions to schools enrolling more than 20 ELs in FY25 as well as resources to schools serving one to 19 additional students identified as English Learners.

Budget Engagement and Additional Hearings

The FY25 budget is reflective of input from families, educators, principals, network chiefs, Local School Councils (LSCs), the Principal Advisory Council, and other District partners. Changes to school budgets, specifically, are a result of recent years of community engagement and stakeholder feedback.
District leadership looks forward to receiving additional feedback from the CPS community at upcoming budget hearings at 4 p.m. July 16 and 6 p.m. July 17 in person at Jones College Prep Hgh School, 700 S. State St. and also live streaming on the District’s YouTube channel and the Board’s website (www. cps.boe.org). Advanced registration for public speakers is required via the website or by calling 773-553-1600 by 5 p.m. July 15 or until 20 slots have been filled for each hearing, whichever occurs first. Residents can also view the CPS budget at the Board of Education office, 1 North Dearborn St. during weekday business hours.

Capital Plan

The CPS facility portfolio includes 522 campuses and 803 buildings. The average District facility age is over 84 years old. Since FY2016, CPS has invested $3 billion into capital improvements across the District and has identified another more than $3 billion for immediate critical facility needs, from major renovations to ensure schools stay warm and dry, facility construction to relieve overcrowding, and renovations to aid programmatic enhancements. Additionally, the District continues to invest in ADA upgrades to ensure all CPS campuses are more accessible.

Last year, CPS operated on a scaled-down $155 million capital budget while assessing needs and leading Districtwide public engagement to gather input on its Educational Facilities Master Plan. The FY25 budget for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) includes a capital budget totaling $611.1 million of investments that will focus on priority facilities needs at neighborhood schools, mechanical systems that control the indoor environment and air quality, school building envelope improvements for roofing systems, ADA accessibility, restroom modernizations, student recreation and athletic improvements, site improvements, and continued expansion of technology upgrades and other academic priorities. The budget also includes investments for enhancements to Career and Technical Education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programming. To support schools throughout the city, the FY25 capital plan provides funding in five main areas: critical facility needs, interior improvements, programmatic investments, site improvements, and IT and security upgrades.

The FY25 capital plan continues new projects and initiatives, including the implementation of a new custodial operations model, which brings the following functions in-house: management; absenteeism management; purchase and management of supplies; purchase, repair, and renting of equipment.

CPS is allocating $386.9 million in funding for critical maintenance projects and interior improvements. As part of the District’s commitment to equity, the District is prioritizing renovations throughout the city to ensure all students can learn and grow in school buildings that support high-quality learning environments.

Support for Students with Physical Limitations
The District will invest $25 million to increase Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility in 18 schools as part of a multi-year program to ensure all CPS buildings have first-floor accessibility. Starting with the FY21 Capital budget, CPS committed to spending $100 million over five years to improve the accessibility of parking lots, main entrances, main offices, and public restrooms.

Programmatic Investments to Build Upon School Success
CPS is investing $57 million in programmatic investments, including CTE upgrades, library renovations, and student recreation and athletic resources. This investment continues the District’s stadium and swimming pool refurbishment program.


Site Improvements that Foster Learning
This year’s capital budget includes $16.7 million to design and build new playgrounds, playlots, and schoolyards across the city so that students can benefit from a well-rounded education that promotes healthy and active development. The budget will also eliminate the last of the rubber mat tiles, which are an accessibility issue. In addition, $10 million will be allocated to improve parking lots and replace turf fields.


IT, Security, Facility, and Building System Investments
The District will also continue its multi-year investment in the Technology Modernization Program and high-speed internet for schools throughout the city. In 2025, the District is allocating $50.5 million to upgrade school network infrastructure to address equitable connectivity, replace aging hardware at schools, and upgrade our data warehouse and data backups.

Finally, to support cleanliness at every school, $5.5 million will support the insourcing of custodial equipment to better serve students.

Capital budget hearings will be held on July 16 and 18th. On July 16th, the virtual hearing will be from 12-1:30 p.m. and on July 18, virtual hearings will be held from 12-1:30 p.m. and 6-7:30 p.m. Participants can register here. These hearings will be virtual only and streaming live on youtube.com/chipubschools.

Future Funding Challenges
The FY25 budget includes the remaining $233 million in the federal ESSER funds, plus an additional $33 million in expected reimbursements for FEMA eligible costs, that were allocated to school districts to support students as they recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The District’s FY25 budget continues to sound the alarm about a growing deficit in future years.

The challenges the District faces in FY2025 and onward are driven by funding inequities and inadequacies in state funding. CPS remains the only district in the state of Illinois required to fund its own teacher pensions and remains more than $1 billion underfunded based on the state’s own formula and definition of adequate funding. On top of these challenges, CPS faces shortfalls in the state’s assessment (and, subsequently, funding levels) of CPS’ special education needs, funding for pre-K classrooms, and reimbursements for transportation of special education students.

The FY25 budget does not yet include a pending salary increase for the District’s most significant workforce, our teachers. CPS is currently in negotiations on new collective bargaining agreements with the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association and anticipates amending the budget at a later date to reflect the cost of these agreements.

The FY2025 budget includes $62 million in projected TIF surplus funding to cover the recently ratified collective bargaining agreement with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. CPS is continuing discussions with partners and stakeholders around long-term revenue solutions for existing and pending labor agreements.

FY25 is the eighth consecutive year that CPS has benefited from the State of Illinois making payments to the Chicago Teacher Pension Fund (CTPF). While the state contributions help to offset the impact that CTPF has on CPS’ financial health, Chicago remains the only district in Illinois that is required to pay contributions to its teacher pension fund. In FY2025, the state contribution to CTPF is $353.9 million, an increase of $31 million from the prior year’s contribution of $322.7 million, but only 35 percent of the District’s total teacher pension cost.

CPS will continue to collaborate with city, state and federal partners to both find efficiencies within our system and identify new sources of revenue to support the more robust public education funding offered through ESSER and which helped CPS drive academic recovery following the pandemic.

“Our dedicated staff and amazing students have proven what it takes to make progress and show amazing academic growth,” said Chicago Board of Education President Jianan Shi. “Now we must all work together as the leaders supporting the state’s largest school district and post similar progress when it comes to securing the public education funding that will sustain and improve academic excellence for today and tomorrow’s Chicago students.”