The Chicago Public Schools budget has been a contentious issue for months, and it is now coming down to the end \u2014 with the Chicago Board of Education required to pass a spending plan by the end of the week.<\/p>\n
A vote on the budget is set for Thursday.<\/p>\n
With the school district at odds with the Chicago Teachers Union<\/a> and its allies on which budget plan to pass, there has been no shortage of last-minute lobbying and jockeying.<\/p>\n The teachers’ union singled out board members who support the budget proposal laid out by CPS Interim superintendent and chief executive officer Dr. Macquline King \u2014 which does not require a loan.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, robo-texts circulated by The Urban Center \u2014 a so-called voice for the centrist movement \u2014 are critical of the board members who are in favor of borrowing money to close the massive budget deficit.<\/p>\n “We don’t think it’s a responsible decision for the school district to take that payment on right now, much less to borrow under a high-interest loan in order to do it,” said Jessica Handy, executive director of Stand for Children Illinois.<\/p>\n Stand for Children, a nonprofit advocating for equitable funding and resources in schools, is urging the board to vote against a budget that includes borrowing money to close the massive deficit<\/a> \u2014 which includes $175 million for pension payments.<\/p>\n “This is not an expenditure that CPS should be paying in the first place,” Handy said. “This is an expenditure that the city should be paying according to state law.”<\/p>\n The nearly $10 billion CPS budget proposal involves laying off cafeteria workers and central office workers, but avoids cuts to classrooms.<\/p>\n Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Chicago Teachers Union, and the union’s allies all support a budget that includes borrowing in the form of a high-interest short-term loan.<\/p>\n “We need our Board of Ed to know further cuts are unacceptable, and we call on them to say no to cuts tomorrow,” said CPS teacher Eric Branholm.<\/p>\n For those critical of a loan, CTU president Stacy Davis Gates said the union has been warning of CPS’ financial woes.<\/p>\n “I say bullsh** on the criticism,” Davis Gates said. “Is any of these budgeting schemes comfortable, or the thing that we want? No, but you all didn’t all hear us when we were screaming an SOS since 2011.”<\/p>\n In a statement, CPS reiterated while its proposed budget does require cuts, it avoids cuts directly to the classroom.<\/p>\n It is unclear what will happen if a budget is not passed.<\/p>\n Ahead of the budget vote, Mayor Johnson this week filled a seat on the Chicago Board of Education that has been vacant for the past two months. \u00c1ngel V\u00e9lez is a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and lives in the West Englewood neighborhood, according to Chalkbeat.<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n