Furloughs and More Cuts in Store for Chicago Public Schools

By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Aug 2, 2009 5:00PM

An internal memo revealed non-union Chicago Public Schools staff will “have to take six unpaid furlough days this year,” adding to CPS’ woes on a local level. Earlier this week, Mayor Richard M. Daley encouraged the city’s agencies to make “such cuts,” according to a Chi-Town Daily news report. CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman was behind the July 28 memo, confirmed CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond, the report said. The memo states:

The furlough days mean that an unspecified number of "non-union central office and citywide employees" will take Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, two days at Thanksgiving and Christmas Day without pay

On top of these vacation pay cuts, the memo also hinted at other cutbacks in the coming year. The need for more cuts is a direct effect of cuts at the Illinois State Board of Education, according to the report Bond said CPS will have to cut $84 million out from its budget. That translates into continuing CPS’ hiring freeze and “raising the bar” on which “essential positions” the district will hire, Huberman wrote in the memo. The memo said that “student-focused areas like classroom size, facilities maintenance and student support programs” needed to be protected, but did not rule out cuts in these areas, the report said. [Chi-Town Daily]