Chicago Teachers Union, parents blast steep CPS budget cuts

CHICAGO - The Chicago Teachers Union is blasting Chicago Public Schools for proposing major budget cuts.

Teachers rallied outside CPS headquarters Wednesday calling for funding to be fully restored.

Last month, CPS revealed it was cutting budgets at 40-percent of schools next fall. The district says the cuts are driven by a steep decline in enrollment.

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Nearly 25,000 students have left the district since the start of the pandemic. CTU says more resources, not fewer, are needed to bring students back.

"Now is not the time to be punishing local schools. Now is not the time to be cutting special educators. Now is not the time to be laying off technology coordinators. Now is not the time to be cutting art, cutting other vital programs in our schools. Now is the time to use the federal funds for what the federal funds were intended for. To support our schools, and support our students during the recovering from this pandemic," CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.

CTU wants the district to use its $1.4 billion in federal Covid-19 stimulus funds before they resort to cuts.