The
Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) new per-student budgeting system spells
big cuts for some schools, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and local
school officials are learning.
CPS released next year’s individual
school budgets to principals last week and, according to the CTU, schools
across the city are seeing 10 percent to 25 percent cuts in funding. The union
and education experts predict these cuts will lead to eliminated
positions and more split-level classes, among other negative outcomes.
So far, a handful of schools have reported to seeing their budgets slashed by more than one million dollars.
“What
we’re going to see is a degradation of education in neighborhood public
schools, which is likely to result in even a widening of the
inequalities that we already have in CPS,” said Pauline Lipman,
professor of educational policy studies and director of the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) and a handful of other aldermen want plastic carryout bags banned in Chicago. 
