Chicago’s students are back in school. Their first week should be about new backpacks, catching up with friends, and meeting new teachers. Parents should be excited for their children and grateful to have reached the other side of summer break.
They should not have to wonder if those entrusted with their children’s education will put politics ahead of classrooms.
Last Wednesday, CPS presented a $10.2 billion FY26 budget that does the hard thing the right way. There’s no short-term borrowing, and the $175 million payment to the City’s Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF) will happen only if new city or state dollars materialize to cover it. That is a significant step toward stability after starting the summer with a $734 million shortfall.
But no good deed goes unpunished. Several Board members signed a letter pressing Interim CEO/Superintendent Dr. Macquline King to add the MEABF payment and borrow to do it.
That would rip resources out of schools just as CPS has put forward a budget shielding students from classroom cuts. When the board votes on August 28, Chicago will see clearly whether its members stand with students or with a mayor demanding a payment CPS cannot afford.
CPS is not obligated to reimburse the City for MEABF. During the pandemic, when nearly $3 billion in one-time federal relief flowed, CPS chipped in. Those dollars are gone. By law, the obligation belongs to the City. Asking CPS to cover this bill siphons dollars from classrooms to plug a hole at City Hall.
Worse still is the demand that CPS borrow money to cover the MEABF payment. The floated plan is to issue roughly $200 million in new short-term, high-interest debt. With principal, fees, and interest, the cost tops nearly $394 million just to deliver $175 million to the City. That is equivalent to taking $1,200 away from every student or eliminating 4,000 teachers. CPS already spends about $1 billion a year on debt service. Independent experts warn borrowing risks a downward spiral — downgrades, higher costs, and catastrophic cuts.
What is most perplexing is the stance of the Chicago Teachers Union. For years, CTU excoriated Mayor Lightfoot for shifting this same $175 million payment onto CPS, likening it to “balancing the City’s budget on the backs of CPS students.” Today, with a different mayor in office, CTU and its board allies are demanding that CPS not only make the payment but also borrow to do it.
Just last week, the union told members it wanted board members to “budget for students, not bankers.” In the same breath, it urged CPS to take on high-interest debt that would hand millions to banks while draining classrooms. That has nothing to do with kids; it’s pure politics.
Parents, on the other hand, haven’t wavered. At CPS budget engagement sessions this summer, every table that discussed MEABF opposed CPS making the payment, and 77% opposed borrowing. At a July 2025 Kids First Chicago webinar with nearly 200 attendees, more than 90% opposed both in a live poll. Families understand the stakes: every dollar sent to City Hall is a dollar not available for teachers, counselors, interventionists, and the stability students deserve.
Some officials have even suggested the City could retaliate if CPS refuses to pay, by withholding Tax Increment Financing (TIF) surplus or charging schools for water and sewer fees. By law, CPS receives its proportional share—about 52%—of any declared TIF surplus. City Hall is expected to need a massive TIF sweep to balance its own budget. Suggesting otherwise is dishonest and meant to squeeze CPS. Put plainly, if the City taps TIF in a big way, as it almost certainly will, CPS must get its share. Any threat to the contrary is fiscal extortion masquerading as political necessity.
The board should pass Dr. King’s budget as presented, without the $175 million MEABF payment and without new debt. Then pause and reassess after Springfield’s veto session and after the City completes its own budget. If, at that point, revenues fall short, the board can amend the budget. Acting now makes no sense unless the real goal is to ram through the MEABF payment regardless of consequences for schools.
CPS leadership provided a budget that protects teaching and learning. Parents showed up and spoke with one voice: don’t sell out our students to bail out City Hall. Now the board must follow through.
Keep the $175 million where it belongs, inside Chicago’s classrooms. Put kids first.
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Daniel Anello is CEO and Hal Woods is chief of policy at Kids First Chicago, an education nonprofit.
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