More than 2,000 Chicago Public Schools employees, including 1,036 teachers and 1,077 support staffers, got pink slips from the district on July 19, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
In addition to the 1,036 teachers who are technically laid off, 161 teachers saw their positions eliminated as a result of the massive school closures announced in June. Since these teachers will continue to receive full pay as part of a pool of unused teachers for five months, they are not considered laid off.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the cuts were “yet another painful reminder to Springfield that we need immediate pension relief. … With a billion dollar budget deficit, decreased enrollment and ballooning pension costs, CPS has been forced to make extremely difficult choices to put our school district in the best position to be successful next year and beyond,” the Sun-Times quoted the mayor’s statement as saying.
Illinois’s pension problems have been documented on this blog as well as in major news sources. Most recently, the Chicago Tribune called for big pension reforms in an editorial yesterday, here. “We hope the conference committee members … realize that a middling pension deal won’t do what many citizens want: not just save the pension system, but also take a big share of that pressure off the state’s annual budgets,” the editorial board wrote. “Chicago isn’t part of the state pension system, but none of us should be surprised if fixes at the state level become the template for a city fix as well.”
In a press release, the Raise Your Hand Coalition’s Amy Smolensky said the layoffs were a “stark contrast to the ongoing CPS rhetoric to minimize any impact of budget cuts on the classroom”:
“For too long, our children have been subjected to inadequate staffing and basic programs and standards at Chicago Public schools,” she wrote. “The situation has only worsened under Mayor Emanuel. After pushing through a ‘full school day,’ our mayor has chosen to prioritize property tax spending on unnecessary and frivolous projects such as $55 million for a stadium for DePaul University, while CPS continues to receive drastic funding cuts that severely impact our children’s ability to thrive and learn.”
She said she was disappointed by Mr Emanuel’s failure to use a set-aside fund to offset some of the cuts, which forced many parents to move their families out of the city. But “parents who don’t have the option to leave will be stuck sending their children to underfunded schools that lack the appropriate staffing and programs needed to provide a realistic ‘full school day.’ This is a frightening day for the children of Chicago.”