CPS releases 2012 - 2013 budget, schedules hearings all on one day
The Chicago Board of Education on the morning of July 6, 2012 released its proposed budget for the 2012 - 2013 school year, The budget (for operations) is said to be nearly $5.2 billion. Operations and Capital budgets have been separated for the upcoming school year.
CPS FY 13 Budget Protects Investments in Student Achievement... $144 million in cuts and other actions allow District to eliminate $665 million deficit and fund Full School Day, Early Childhood, and maintain class size
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CPS Office of Communications
Phone: 773-553-1620
Website: http://www.cps.edu
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2012
CPS FY 13 Budget Protects Investments in Student Achievement
$144 million in cuts and other actions allow District to eliminate $665 million deficit and fund
Full School Day, Early Childhood Education and maintain class size
CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) today unveiled a $5.162 billion proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2013 (FY 13) that protects investments in students and programs that support student achievement even as the District faces a $665 million deficit. Eliminating $144 million in spending and using other tools allowed the District to close its deficit and protect key investments for the Full School Day, early childhood development and maintaining class size, while expanding high-quality school options across the District to give parents more choices.
“We went through our budget line by line, contract by contract, program by program and used every available tool to protect investments in student learning while reducing spending,” said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. “We will not sacrifice our children’s education during a time of fiscal crisis. We must and will continue making investments that support their growth.”
The proposed FY 13 budget continues to invest in critical initiatives, including:
· More than $130 million in new discretionary funding to give principals and school communities flexibility to create a quality, Full School Day that best meets the academic needs of their unique student bodies.
· Maintaining class size.
Meeting higher nutritional standards while realizing targeted savings and securing additional federal revenue.
Protecting investments in early childhood education despite a $19 million cut in state funding to continue serving over 42,000 students.
Maintaining full day kindergarten to continue serving over 17,000 students.
· Expanding high-quality school options to create nearly 6,600 new seats in high-quality magnet, selective enrollment, charter, International Baccalaureate (IB), and Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs.
CPS has been able to maintain its commitment to these initiatives even as it copes with declining revenues and increasing contractual and statutory obligations that continue to drive its deficit, including healthcare, debt service and pension costs. State and federal revenue is also down $114 million.
The District cut $144 million in administrative and operations spending outside the classroom ($95 million) and by redirecting Central Office-run education programs ($49 million). To close the FY 13 deficit, CPS will also rely on $432 million from its fund balance. Finally, CPS accepted its property tax rate to the allowable cap, which yields an additional $62 million in FY 13 ($28 per $250,000 household).
The budget outreach process this year will be more open and transparent than ever before. The Board of Education will hold three public hearings across the city on July 11, 2012 from 6-8 p.m. at Malcolm X College, Kennedy King College, and Daley College. CPS will also schedule a city-wide tele-townhall the following week. In addition, the budget will be available for the public to review and leave comments on our website at www.cps.edu/budget and for the first time the public will be able to utilize interactive tools for a more transparent understanding of the proposed budget. These interactive features will allow users to more easily review all spending lines in the District’s budget, including school budgets, department budgets, salaries, positions, etc.
After considering community and stakeholder feedback the final budget will be presented to the Chicago Board of Education for a vote at its July 25 meeting.
The Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 402,000 students in more than 675 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school system.
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CPS FY 13 Budget Protects Investments in Student Achievement
$144 million in cuts and other actions allow District to eliminate $665 million deficit and fund
Full School Day, Early Childhood Education and maintain class size
