A steady stream of union leaders, teachers, parents and elected officials urged the Chicago Board of Education Aug. 19 to protect classroom positions and student services and to avoid midyear cuts, risky borrowing or reimbursing the city for non‑teacher pensions unless new, dedicated revenue is secured.

Jackson Potter, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said the budget choices have real human consequences and singled out the municipal pension reimbursement debate. "Some of the people advocating the strongest for, hey, don't make that payment to the lowest paid Black and brown women in the system for their pensions, are the same people who have banks on their boards," Potter said, arguing the district should pursue aggressive revenue and legal strategies rather than shift costs onto workers and students.

Jen Conant, CTU charter division chair, told the board that CPS must "mitigate negative impact on students and leave as many options as possible," and cited recent charter closures and CPS's decision to take over five Acero campuses as precedent for stepping in to preserve school communities. SEIU Local 73 director Tremaine Reeves warned that loans historically lead to workforce concessions: "Do not take out a loan that will harm workers in the long run and dig CPS in a deeper hole," Reeves said. Several other SEIU members described proposed cuts to CICA paraprofessional positions, custodial staff, crossing guards and food service as direct classroom impacts that jeopardize students' health and safety.

Teachers and parents described immediate classroom effects: Michelle Ludwig, a teacher at DePriest Elementary, said IEP minutes were not being met and that cuts to art, music and library reduce students' opportunities. Special‑education staff told the board their schools already lack paraprofessionals and that children may lose the only reliable source of hot meals if cafeteria positions are cut. Parent leader Carla Rivera described her son's speech‑language services shrinking to 30 minutes a week because of limited staffing.

Several speakers called on state government to provide the funding the district needs and urged taxing wealthy Illinois residents rather than cutting school services. Public commenters and union representatives repeatedly criticized proposals that would force CPS to reimburse the city for the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF) absent new revenue, saying the city is legally obligated to fund MEABF and that shifting that cost to CPS would exacerbate inequality and result in deeper future cuts.

Elected officials weighed in from both sides of the debate. Alderman Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) said Illinois law makes the city responsible for MEABF and warned that forcing CPS to add a $175 million payment or to borrow would "delay one and make it worse" and risk long‑term fiscal harm. Alderman Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) praised CPS's effort to protect school budgets and also warned that borrowing would be "wrong‑headed and fiscally irresponsible," potentially increasing interest costs and delaying capital investments.

Speakers asked for concrete contingency planning if promised TIF surplus or state funding is delayed and urged the board to continue community engagement. Many asked the board to take an advocacy posture with Springfield, and some urged litigation or aggressive revenue policy changes to recoup past financial harms.

Provenance: public participation remarks during the FY26 budget hearing on Aug. 19, 2025, including union representatives Jackson Potter (CTU), Jen Conant (CTU charter division), Tremaine Reeves (SEIU Local 73), and multiple parents and teachers.