CHICAGO (WLS) — In his weekly news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is working with Chicago Public Schools and unions to come up with a variety of ways to balance the budget.

The district needs to present its budget plan this month and is facing a massive shortfall.

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While he did not have details, he did have specifics on tourism numbers.

Lollapalooza was a success, as were many other Chicago summer events last weekend. Johnson and his team touted rising tourism numbers. The city needs all the revenue it can get, considering that the city and CPS face big deficits. CPS has only nine days to close an almost $1 billion budget gap.

“There are ways in which we can find some more efficiencies, particularly in central office, where there is some, I guess, layers of duplicity,” Johnson said.

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CPS headquarters cuts were the only specific idea the mayor shared when asked exactly how the district should balance its budget. In the past, Johnson has supported a loan.

“When all those ideas have been worked through and that dollar amount has been identified we’ll be happy to offer up a presentation,” Johnson said.

The mayor was more focused on what the state of Illinois owes CPS under an evidence-based funding formula. According to new state numbers, the price tag is up to $1.6 billion.

State law allows the state to fully fund the school district over a period of time. The mayor has been asking for more state help immediately. It was on his mind on Monday, when he spoke about Gov. JB Pritzker helping Texas state lawmakers.

READ MORE | IL lawmakers want Chicago Public Schools fully funded, don’t feel all funding should come from state

“As much as I appreciate Illinois helping out the people from Texas, the South Side and West Side could use the same level of energy,” Johnson said.

The mayor dialed back his comments about Pritzker on Tuesday.

“I was wearing shades yes, throwing shade no,” Johnson said.

The mayor went out of his way to praise the governor for helping Texas Democrats push back at Republicans.

In the meantime, state lawmakers are not about to help CPS anytime soon – not in time to balance the budget next week.

SEE ALSO | Chicago Public Schools announces hundreds of layoffs as part of annual staffing adjustments

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