CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools officials are poised to revise the district's 2017 budget to add $55 million to cover the costs of its new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union.
The board of education – appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel — will give parents and members of the public two chances to weigh in on the revised spending plan at 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Nov. 28 at school district headquarters, 42 W. Madison St.
Originally, both budget hearings — required by law — were set to take place during the workday, prompting criticism from parents and watchdogs.
CPS officials did not say why the hearing time was changed.
Registration for those who wish to speak at the hearings start 90 minutes before each hearing, officials said.
The four-year deal — reached minutes before teachers were set to strike for the second time in four years on Oct. 11 — puts a "serious dent in the cost curve" that created the district's $1.1 billion budget deficit, CEO Forrest Claypool said.
CPS officials will have to find another $100 million in 2018 to cover the cost of the third year of the contract with the teachers' union, Claypool said, adding that he was "confident" that officials would be able to cover the tab.
In spite of the additional costs, the agreement is the most "cost-effective" contract to be reached since 1995, when former Mayor Richard M. Daley took over CPS, Claypool said.
The agreement must still be approved by the Chicago Board of Education. That vote is scheduled for Dec. 7.
The $5.4 billion initial budget, adopted in August, assumed officials would reach an agreement with the teachers' union that saved the district $31 million.
Instead, the district will use roughly $55 million from Tax Increment Financing District accounts to balance its 2016-17 budget and cover the additional cost of the agreement with the union, Claypool said. In all, CPS will get $87.5 million in TIF funds, officials said.
TIF districts are used by the city to spur the redevelopment of blighted areas for the property tax base in a designated area for a set period of time — usually 20 years or more.
The school district's budget relies on $215 million that the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner promised to give CPS in exchange for "pension reform."
Claypool said he was confident that Springfield would make good on its promise and the district would not have to make mid-year cuts to school budgets.
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