In the month since the high-stakes battle over a $10.25 billion budget, Chicago Public Schools continues to face challenges, including a broad management reorganization and the threat of losing federal funds. The issues loom large for some board and community members, who are calling for increased clarity and transparency from the district.
The struggles come as the district tries to gain its footing after an extended time of turmoil in the last calendar year, marked by leadership changes, a new teachers’ contract, the growing pains of a new 21-member school board and thousands of layoffs of CPS staff and educators over the summer to address its financial woes.
The district continues to struggle with ongoing issues, particularly as it is caught in a legal dispute with the U.S. Department of Education over the release of $8 million in funding intended for CPS students. Meanwhile, the district maintains that no significant staffing decisions have been made.
CPS magnet schools could lose grant funding
A federal investigation of CPS by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights claims the district’s policies to provide support for Black, transgender and gender-nonconforming students are discriminatory to other students.
CPS’ “Guidelines Regarding the Support of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” policies and its “Black Student Success Plan” are under scrutiny from the Trump administration, which has challenged a multitude of other K-12 and higher education diversity, equity and inclusion policies since January.
The Trump administration maintains that the district should abolish the Black Student Success Plan and the gender guidelines, while the district is adamant that both policies comply with federal and state law.
Both efforts are a framework for tending to the needs and concerns of the CPS’ transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students, and addressing the academic disparities among Black students, according to the district.
Launched in February, the Black Student Success Plan has yet to be implemented, the district said. In April, the federal government initiated an investigation to determine whether the plan is discriminatory and constitutes a violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Despite the ongoing investigation, the government also says the district’s gender guidelines are a Title IX violation, discriminating on the basis of sex, according to a Sept. 16 letter from Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. Trainor demanded that both the Black Student Success Plan, and the guidelines for transgender and non-genderconforming students
As a result, Trainor informed the district in the letter that he would not certify or continue an $8 million grant provided to CPS through the Magnet School Assistance Program, which directly affects the district’s magnet schools.
However, CPS’s acting legal counsel, Elizabeth Barton, shot back in a letter Tuesday, accusing OCR’s investigation of being “one-sided” and having failed to “cite any violation of law or provide any evidence of harm done to our students.”
“As the investigation into both the Title VI and Title IX matters is ongoing, this one-sided process not only undermines the fairness and integrity our students deserve, but overtly disregards OCR’s formal process and procedures,” Barton wrote in a letter to Trainor on Tuesday. “Without due process or an opportunity to engage in meaningful remediation, CPS cannot implement the proposed remedial actions at this time,” Barton wrote. Without the grand money, the CPS budget office will have to review budgets to determine what funding and support it can maintain, the district said.
Potential restructuring of CPS’ network system
Nearly a month after passing a budget that in part relies on administrative cuts and a hiring freeze, district officials who lead school networks could see job shifts amid a potential reorganization led by interim CEO Macquline King, board members and school leaders told the Tribune on Tuesday.
CPS schools are divided into 17 networks, with each network having a leader or chief who works with principals and serves as a liaison between the schools and the district’s central office.
The 17 geographically divided networks could be reduced to 14, representing 10 groups of elementary schools and four groups of high schools, according to a source familiar with the situation who is not authorized to speak to reporters. These restructurings could lead to a reduction in staffing, with the current 17 network leaders having to reapply for their jobs.
Both board members and a CPS assistant principal said they have yet to see a reorganization plan. The idea was presented at a routine meeting with district leadership last week, multiple sources told the Tribune, but it was a line on a presentation slide and neither discussed nor elaborated upon, leaving school leaders confused about details of the plan. School leaders are concerned about whether the changes would be disruptive if made during the school year, sources said, and the impact on their long-term relationships with the network chiefs.
In an emailed statement Tuesday, the district said it is still “carefully evaluating strategies” at its central office and at the district level to strengthen teaching and learning for students.
“The District has considered and planned for a number of Central Office and District wide strategies to improve our students’ educational experience,” according to the statement. “No final decisions have been made regarding the future of the District’s Network Offices. All plans remain subject to change as CPS leadership continues to thoughtfully review options and considerations moving forward.”
Although the district said it has made $50 million in cuts to its central office to help balance this academic year’s budget, it has not provided the specifics. It is unclear whether the move aims to better organize district schools or is part of broader cost reduction efforts, as the district continues to struggle with underfunding and historic debt.