Aug. 04--Chicago's privately run charter schools, told in July they'd initially receive as little as 15 percent of first quarter funding, have now received the full amount from Chicago Public Schools, the head of the state's charter school organizing group said Monday.
"I think what this does, assuming everyone's been paid, is it allows schools to open on time," said Andrew Broy, head of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools group, who believed most schools received the money by the end of last week.
CPS controls millions of dollars in public funding for the organizations that operate charter schools. The money comes from a variety of sources, including state and federal aid. Charters' first-quarter payment is based on projected enrollment, with supplemental funding for facility use, state aid and a two-month advance on federal funding.
The financially strapped district in July told charters it wouldn't be able to make the full payment on time but assured schools the money would eventually come. CPS subsequently received property tax revenue that allowed them to make the payments, which totaled about $157 million, a district spokesman said.
Though Broy said he was pleased that the first-quarter payment has been made, he said he was still concerned about the possibility of additional cuts to the CPS budget. District officials have said the preliminary CPS budget for the 2016 budget year would rely on a half-billion-dollar bailout from state lawmakers or a combination of more borrowing and budget cuts.
"You've still got this concern of the $500 million hole in the CPS proposed budget," Broy said. "And what does the second-, third- and fourth-quarter payments look like if Springfield doesn't do something?"
"I've been telling schools to be very cautious," he said.
jjperez@tribpub.com
