July 02--Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday laid out $200 million in cuts to staff and programs he said Chicago Public Schools needs to make after fulfilling a $634 million payment to the teachers pension fund.
Emanuel said school will start on time in the fall and that class sizes would not be affected by the budget cuts, which include layoffs that will affect mostly nonteaching positions.
At a City Hall news conference with CPS' interim CEO, Jesse Ruiz, Emanuel also proposed what he called a "grand bargain" with Springfield in a bid to stabilize the district's crumbling finances.
Emanuel proposed reducing near-term pension payments in exchange for a longer-term fix that would include a CPS property tax increase, larger pension contributions from teachers and more financial support from the state.
After making its massive pension payment Tuesday, CPS said 1,400 positions would be "impacted" because of the outlay.
Ruiz on Wednesday stressed that very few teachers would be affected, with most of the cuts being made from central office or support staff at schools. District officials did not have an immediate number for how many teachers would be laid off.
Also, 350 of the affected jobs are vacant positions that would go unfilled.
The district said it is making $200 million in cuts. Its budget for the year ending June 30 was $5.8 billion.
Some cuts outlined by Ruiz:
--More than $17 million would be cut from the district's network offices, affecting new teacher development programs and money for new so-called turnaround schools.
--More than $11 million would be cut from professional development for turnaround schools.
--The district will eliminate all startup funding for newly approved charter, contract and alternative learning schools, saving $15.8 million.
--CPS will eliminate central funding for elementary school sports teams, totaling $3.2 million.
--The district says it will save $9.2 million by shifting the start of high school to 45 minutes later in the day, which officials say would reduce transportation costs. The schools then would end their day 45 minutes later, officials said.
--The district will eliminate 25 percent of its facility repair and maintenance budget next year, totaling $11.1 million.
--The district will consolidate pickup stops for magnet school students, saving $2.3 million. Instead of students reporting to their local attendance school for pickup, they would be picked up at new consolidated stops within 2 miles of their home.
"In my view, these cuts are intolerable, they're unacceptable and they're totally unconscionable," Emanuel said at an afternoon news conference at City Hall. "They're a result of a political system that's sprung a leak and now it's a geyser. There's a series of political compromises and patchwork over the years that can no longer continue. We owe teachers, our kids and our families better."
The mayor offered two potential solutions to address what he has long argued is an inequity in how Chicago's teacher pensions are funded. Chicago taxpayers fund the rest of the state's teacher pensions through their state income taxes while paying local property taxes toward Chicago teacher retirement.
Emanuel proposed merging Chicago's teachers pension system with the statewide retirement fund. He argued that a merged fund would be stronger overall because Chicago has funded a larger percentage of its pensions than the suburban and downstate fund has.
As an alterative, Emanuel offered his "grand bargain" for changing how Chicago's teacher pensions are funded while overhauling the state's education funding formula.
Emanuel proposed that the state pick up the so-called normal pension costs -- the annual amount CPS owes to the pension fund, not including years worth of missed payments that were signed off on by state lawmakers.
In addition, Emanuel would restore a property tax levy dedicated to teacher pensions, a tax increase the mayor estimated would generate an additional $175 million to $200 million per year. Such a dedicated levy existed in Chicago before 1995, he said.
In exchange for the property tax revenue, Emanuel called on teachers to cover their entire 9 percent share of their pensions costs. Teachers now pay 2 percent, with the city picking up the rest. That point, the mayor acknowledged, would be subject to ongoing contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Emanuel also said he would be willing to allow the elimination of Chicago's education block grants. CPS currently receives $600 million per year in the grants, which address the district's high percentage of children who have special needs or live in poverty. Gov. Bruce Rauner's pension overhaul plan also included phasing out the grants.
But Emanuel said he would agree to the elimination of block grants only as part of a broader overhaul of the state's education funding formula and only if suburban and downstate districts were required to start contributing to their own teacher pension funds as Chicago does.
"Chicago teachers, Chicago taxpayers and Chicago kids are being treated as second-class citizens by the state of Illinois," Emanuel said. "The whole system, in my view, is inside out and upside down and it's leading to a set of decisions that are totally intolerable. Our kids and teachers deserve better from political leaders."
bruthhart@tribpub.com
