Just a few months into the school year, Chicago Public Schools has overspent its budget and its emergency contingency budget for special education by $27 million — one of several “compounding financial pressures” that could mean midyear cuts if the school district doesn’t get more from the state in the state Legislative veto session that starts Tuesday.
Besides ballooning special education costs, CPS officials say they had to pay more than expected in interest on short-term loans to make payroll and received $19 million less in state funding than expected.
These unexpected costs don’t even include the staff that CPS rehired this fall at the direction of school board members aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union. In a controversial move, these members approved a last-minute budget amendment counting on $150 million more from the state, even though it had yet to be committed…