CPS Workers Forced to Take 4 Unpaid Furlough Days to Save District Money

CHICAGO, IL — All Chicago Public Schools employees will have four unpaid furlough days during the rest of the school year in a money-saving move after Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed more than $200 million in state funding for the school system, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Announced Friday, the days — Feb. 3, April 7, June 21 and June 22 — will not affect the district's schedule because they fall on staff professional development days when classes already were not in session, the report stated. CPS offices also will be closed on these furlough days, the report added.

Officials said Friday the unpaid days will save the district $35 million and warned that more cost-cutting could be on the horizon if state funding for schools continues to be threatened by Springfield's inability to repair a broken pension system, the Tribune reports.

The Chicago Teachers Union, however, places blame for the furlough days with CPS and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, citing their lack off attention to finding new ways to fund the city's schools, according to the report. Union leaders on Friday asked Emanuel to put more of the money the city generates from its special taxing districts into schools' coffers, the report added.

RELATED: Chicago Teachers Strike Averted as Union, CPS Reach Tentative Agreement

Last year, tax district money were used to fund Chicago's new teachers contract and avoid a strike at the 11th hour.

The $215 million shortfall for CPS is the result of Rauner vetoing a pension bill in December on the grounds it didn't include pension reforms, the report stated. With its reserves bleeded dry, the school system has resorted to short-term borrowing to cover expenses, the report added.

More via the Chicago Tribune

image via Chicago Public Schools

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