UPDATE: Chicago school board members and community advocates rallied outside Austin High School on November 25, 2025, urgently urging the City Council to approve Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $16.6 billion city budget. If passed, this budget includes $552.4 million designated for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), vital funding that could prevent devastating cuts.
The rally comes after the mayor’s budget proposal faced rejection from a key committee last week, stalling the City Council’s progress and forcing a reconsideration of budget strategies. In response, Mayor Johnson has launched an online portal, inviting aldermen to submit new ideas for budget efficiencies. However, some council members are reportedly crafting alternative budget proposals, heightening the urgency for a swift resolution.
Jitu Brown, an elected school board member from District 5A, emphasized the dire consequences of inaction. “The status quo is starving a school like Douglass, reducing its enrollment from 600 to just 35 children,” Brown stated, highlighting the critical need for community support. He warned that without this budget, many schools could become mere shells of their former selves, suffering from a lack of essential programs.
Echoing this sentiment, Wallace Wilbourn Jr., a teacher at Oscar DePriest Elementary School, cautioned that rejection of the mayor’s budget could lead to staff cuts and increased taxes. “A no vote will support higher taxes and fees on us, the working people, and cuts to our schools and services,” he declared, making clear the potential fallout for families.
Several board members have pointed to calculations by the Chicago Teachers Union indicating that specific schools will face cuts if the budget fails. However, city budget officials clarified that the $552 million for CPS is not allocated per school but given as a lump sum for the board to distribute.
A spokesperson for the mayor described the TIF surplus as “one of the least controversial parts of the budget.” If approved, the city stands to gain an additional $223 million in revenue from special taxing districts. This would allow CPS to maintain its current budget and avert midyear cuts.
In August, the Chicago Board of Education had already approved a $10.2 billion budget for the 2025-26 school year, anticipating at least $379 million from the city. The City of Chicago’s budget operates on a separate calendar year from January 1 to December 31, 2026, adding another layer of complexity to this critical situation.
As the City Council reconvenes, the community watches closely, understanding the stakes involved. Approval of Mayor Johnson’s budget is not just a fiscal matter; it directly impacts the future of education for countless students across Chicago.
Next steps: City Council members must act swiftly. With the voices of educators and advocates ringing through the streets, the urgency for a budget approval to protect schools has never been more pressing. Stay tuned for updates as this story develops.
