CPS presents FY26 budget that shields schools; board pressed over pension payment and short-term borrowing

Chicago Public Schools on Aug. 13 presented a proposed FY26 operating budget that protects school budgets, funds recent labor agreements and avoids furlough days, while asking the city and state for additional revenue to close a remaining deficit.

The district’s chief budget officer, Mike Zadkowski, told the board the FY26 proposal balances a $10.25 billion spending plan while protecting school-level allocations and negotiated wage and staffing commitments. “This budget fully protects school budgets. It avoids the risk of beginning-of-year or midyear cuts to schools,” Zadkowski said during the Agenda Review Committee meeting.

Why it matters: CPS faces a structural shortfall and expects continued advocacy at the city and state levels. The budget presentation framed several tradeoffs and one-time moves intended to avoid midyear disruption to classrooms, but also left significant fiscal risk should contingency revenues not materialize.

What the proposal includes • A $10.25 billion FY26 budget that the district says protects school allocations and labor deals while avoiding furlough days and risky operating borrowing. Zadkowski said the budget assumes $4.0 billion in property tax revenue and other funds, and relies on a mix of one-time savings and new/accelerated revenue sources to close a roughly $734 million deficit identified earlier in the process. • Steps the district…