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Budget cuts
Schools took a hit this year to help close the district's budget deficit. What's the impact of these cuts at your school?
Schools took a hit this year to help close the district's budget deficit. What's the impact of these cuts at your school?
We have lost our afterschool programming, half of our ESL, a major loss since we have a huge population of international families, and half our music. Maybe the worst part is the morale slip, especially given the chaos of last summer when so many teachers were threatened with layoff. Many families left Cps.
Schools throughout the system have been hit tremendously hard by these cuts. I have seen over 1000 experienced educators terminated and kicked to the curb. This is the first time in more than 50 years where CPS has fired tenured teachers under the pretense of budget cuts. As a result, schools are scrambling to restaff previously closed positions injecting additional chaos into a summer that was already a programmer's worst nightmare.
It's ironic that as CPS officials call for deep and destabilizing school cuts they have also demanded more accountability from teachers. We are being judged with harsher methods in a moment when there are fewer resources and more uncertainty in our buildings.
Additionally, CPS has used this moment to impose a shock and awe therapy of cuts that go well beyond budget cuts. Under the cover of "program reduction," "reallocation of funds," and "redefinition" central office refused to allow terminated tenure teachers an opportunity to sub at schools until they can find job openings.
When ample funds were available to the district from TIF monies, cuts in Area offices, reduction in the use of school turnarounds and charters, etc, CPS brass refused to even consider those areas as a means to provide stable instruction for Chicago's children. There was not even a word uttered to recoup TIF monies that belong to the schools which CPS has irresponsibly given away , abrogating their responsibility as a taxing body.
This brazen disregard of community needs is borderline criminal. Unfortunately, the Mayor's office used the economic crisis as an opportunity to extract concessions from workers. The message has been simple, get on your knees and kiss the ring. After all, everyone else has and if you don't, none of these teachers is going back.
The Mayor has been true to his word, and in following the playbook of Machine accountability, he is stepping down just as the impact of these policies will start hitting the fan.
We're still waiting for a full accounting from Huberman of how he used the Edujobs money the district received from its share the $26 billion federal bill. Chicago received and estimated $135 million, the lion's share of more that $420 million given to Illinois. The money was supposed to be used to save more than 5,000 teaching jobs state-wide and more than 1,200 at CPS. But it appears to me that Huberman is holding off until he can ring more concessions from the CTU in the upcoming contract negotiations. How about some accountability and transparency, Mr. Huberman? BTW, while Democrats passed the bill, Rep. Kirk, the Republican candidate for governor, voted against tEdujobs altogether.
Correction: Kirk of course, is candidate for senate--NOT governor. h/t F.K.