Educator, mom, principal champion. Learning and leading with a focus on people and change. Tweets my own.
Chicago, IL
Joined October 2017
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Heather Y. Anichini retweeted
The Chicago Board of Education approved contracts for 16 school leaders in June, with 10 principals having their contracts renewed by their Local School Councils and six earning their first principal contracts
Great schools start with great leaders. Congratulations!
Personnel costs account for $6.15B (71%) of CPS' $8.7B operating budget, the largest piece of total spending. That's reasonable: it takes a lot of people to teach, feed, transport, and support students
But when personnel costs outpace revenue, it amplifies structural weakness
→ Bottom line: Revenue is up 34% since FY19. Personnel costs are up 55%. Personnel growth absorbed 92 cents of every new revenue dollar CPS brought in, leaving just 8 cents for everything else in the operating budget.
For example, in FY26, CPS' required contribution to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund outpaced revenue from the dedicated pension levy, forcing the district to divert $61.3M to cover the shortfall. As required payments continue to rise, these diversions will likely increase.
For context, inflation over the same period grew 28% or roughly 3.7% per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Increased compensation also includes higher pension costs to the district.
Meeting those needs explains some of this increase, a topic I’ll cover in a later post.
Better compensation (~$1.0B in increased cost)
The average CPS salary for all employees grew from $64,000 to $81,000 between FY19 and FY26 (27%), or roughly 3.5% per year.
Note that declining enrollment doesn’t mean a decrease in need. Learning gaps that emerged during the pandemic required intensive support for many students.
At the same time, the number of students with Individual Education Programs (IEPs) grew from 51,000 to 55,000 (8%).
From FY19 to FY26, total staff grew by about 8,700 (24%), from 36,855 to 45,550
■ School-based positions: + ~6,000 (19%), from 31,370 to 37,399
■ Citywide roles: + ~2,100 (48%), from 4,344 to 6,432
■ Central office and network roles: + ~600 (51%), from 1,141 to 1,719
CPS personnel costs rose from $3.96B in FY19 to $6.15B in FY26, a 55% increase. Revenue rose only 34% over the same period, from $7.01B to $9.39B
Two major drivers:
1️⃣ More staff (~$1.2B in increased cost)
2️⃣ Better compensation (~$1.0B in increased cost)
CPS serves over 316,224 students. In FY14, that number was 400,545 (a 21% drop over 12 years)
More schools with enrollments below 250 students means increases in per-student spending, without expanding supports
Follow my LinkedIn as I explore drivers of CPS’ FY27 deficit
Public schools are where the next generation learns what independence means and decides how they will carry it forward.
Schools may be closed today, but Chicago provides plenty of opportunities to learn, lead, and listen to the hopes of our young people.
🎡And Navy Pier is putting on what it's calling the largest and longest fireworks display in its history to mark 250 years of independence.
The Chicago Public Education Fund is proud to stand with the educators who show up daily and create positive learning environments for every young person they reach.
CBOE Member Carlos Rivas captured something very important in his recent @chicagotribune op-ed.