CPS to start funding schools based on student need, not enrollment

Chicago Public Schools is officially moving away from a school funding formula that pitted schools against each other as they competed for students and critics say undermined schools as they lost enrollment.

District officials announced Thursday they are implementing a formula that targets resources for individual schools based on the needs of students, such as socioeconomic status and health. They will abandon student-based budgeting — a formula unveiled a decade ago under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel that provided schools a foundational amount of money based on how many students were enrolled.

This change was expected as Mayor Brandon Johnson and others have sharply criticized student-based budgeting. However, it was unclear how it would play out, especially as the district faces a $391 million deficit for next school year

The shortfall is the result of federal COVID-19 relief funds running out. The district got $2.8 billion from the federal government over the past four years, which they have to spend by the end of 2025.

District officials offered no information at a board of education meeting Thursday about how the district will fill the budget hole. Earlier this week, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said the district was going line by line through the budget to try to find cuts. He suggested that things like window washing and emergency repairs may be in jeopardy.

At the same time, district officials stressed they were going to protect the supports they think are making a difference for students.

Transitioning away from student-based budgeting is in line with Johnson’s remaking public schools agenda. His board has already approved plans to remove police officers from schools, declared a shift away from school choice and pledged to focus on neighborhood schools. The new funding formula will likely favor neighborhood schools, especially ones that serve low-income students.

School district officials presented high-level details of the new funding formula.

Under the needs-based formula, every school will get at least four foundation positions, including an assistant principal, plus core and “holistic teachers.” Officials did not say how they will determine how many teachers each school will get or what decisions will be left up to principals and Local School Councils. Principals will get their budgets during the week of April 8.

The district will also provide every school money for professional development and after-school programs, as well as some discretionary money.

Schools will then get additional funding based on the opportunity index, which looks at barriers to opportunity, including race, socioeconomic status, education, health and community factors. Because it will be so important this year, principals have been working with CPS officials to make sure their status on the opportunity index adequately reflects the current conditions in their schools.

Much of Thursday’s budget presentation focused on discussing how the district used the federal COVID relief funds in a way that yielded academic gains. Officials repeated pledges that these programs would be protected.

Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova pointed to a study by Harvard and Stanford researchers that showed CPS has recovered to pre-pandemic reading levels and outperformed most large school districts.

She said this was due to a combination of factors, but some investments paid for with COVID relief money were key. They included focusing on accelerated learning by offering high-quality curriculum; extended learning time in the summer and after-school and additional counselors for students. The district also gave every school an interventionist teacher to help with struggling students and sent tutors to about half the schools.

The evidence of what’s working should inform the discussion as the district faces budget deficits, she said.

“We need to make these very critical decisions as to which of these investments need to be protected, which of them need to be scaled up, and which are the ones we may have to scale down,” she said. “So with this in mind, I am confident that we can keep this momentum going if we make the right strategic choices, so our students can continue to climb higher and higher.”

Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ.