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Alderman urges Springfield action, criticizes TIF decisions in CPS budget hearing
Summary
Alderman Byron Sichel Lopez told the board the state and city have failed to fund CPS adequately and urged use of progressive revenue, criticized blocking of a millionaire surcharge ballot question and called for sustained pressure on Springfield and the city to free resources for schools.
Alderman Byron Sichel Lopez (25th Ward) used his allotted time during public participation to press elected leaders to act on school funding and criticized state and city decisions that he said leave Chicago Public Schools underfunded.
Lopez told the board he was "disheartened and disappointed" by Springfield's inaction and said local leaders should pursue measures such as a millionaire surcharge referendum and more aggressive TIF surplus distributions. "The politicians that talk the talk, but don't walk the walk," he said, and urged the public to hold state leaders accountable in upcoming elections.
Lopez argued the board and community must organize to demand revenue from the state and city and repeatedly framed the issue as a moral one: "My children and your children deserve better," he said. His remarks preceded a district presentation that cited an assumption of $200 million in TIF surplus in the FY27 budget.
