Chicago Public Schools Announces Latest Layoffs And Cuts
By Zoe Greenberg in News on Feb 29, 2016 7:56PM
The Chicago Public Schools laid off a total of 62 employees throughout the district Monday, including 17 teachers. Of the laid-off employees, 43 were full-time, while 19 were part-time, CPS said in a statement. They said they would release a full list of school-by-school budget impacts later Monday.
The mid-year cuts are the latest effort by CPS to balance its disastrous budget in the face of a series of setbacks, including the lack of a new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union and no pension relief from Springfield. The district said that the cuts will help to eliminate $85 million from school budgets.
Earlier this year, CPS principals received midyear budget reductions.
“The fact that these cuts needed to happen in the first place is unfortunate for our principals, teachers and - most of all - our students,” schools chief Forrest Claypool said in a statement. “Our objective is to secure fair funding for our students, bring Illinois up from last in the country for education funding and work with Springfield to start treating students in poverty fairly, so our students get the education they deserve. These painful cuts are not what we want to do, but they are critical to keeping our school doors open.”
Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey told CBS Chicago that he originally expected lay-offs in the thousands.
“We really don’t feel like these cuts are necessary. I think they’re punitive. There is money available in the city and the system, in order to avoid cutting, because cutting in the middle of a school year is really disruptive,” Sharkey told CBS.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel laid blame at the feet of Gov. Rauner for the new round of cuts, claiming that the state is “penalizing districts with poor children.”
In late January, CPS laid off 227 non-teaching employees. This latest round of layoffs affected a wider range of positions, including teachers, teachers aides, and other support staff.