CPS, charter schools settle on new funding formula

Officials from Chicago Public Schools and most city charter school networks have agreed on a new formula setting the amount of taxpayer dollars that go from the district to each privately managed, publicly funded campus.

All but four holdout charter operators received their budget allocations for next school year on Friday, according to the district. During during months of wrangling with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, CPS had sought more leeway in the money they’re required to provide.

The new formula returns the charters to the student-based budgeting model that district schools use, including a 2.5 percent increase that amounts to a funding boost of $19 million, according to CPS.

CPS said the formula needed tweaking in the wake of the state’s new school funding formula, passed in 2017; the new formula is credited with greatly improving the perennially cash-strapped district’s financial footing. It also resulted in a windfall for charters, requiring districts to provide between 97 and 103 percent of per-capita tuition to charters, up from the 75 to 125 percent range previously required.

The charter school network had said the district tried to strong-arm them in negotiations last month by withholding fourth-quarter payments totaling $38 million to the 119 schools that serve about 57,000 Chicago students. District-run schools received their budgets in March.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to provide charter budgets that are equitable and aligned to district-run schools, and we thank our charter partners who have worked in good faith toward a strong resolution that benefits students,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a statement.

In a statement, the charter network said the deal “moves us closer to full equity.”