Last year CPS had a capital budget of just over $1/2 billion. That's right...$510,000,000! Things are different this year as the CPS brass just announced that the capital spending for the 2015-16 school year will be a 'meager' $160 million. What a change.
This large scale cutback in the CPS capital budget shouldn't really come as a surprise as the district has a monumental deficit and is faced with rapidly escalating pension costs. Throw in the fact that a new teacher contract is on the horizon and it's easy to understand the enormous cut.
Make no mistake, there are plenty capital needs particularly since there are some very old buildings and because there are some schools where overcrowding is a real issue.
The way forward will be difficult and it will take a number of years to get the school system on sound footing. Here's hoping the kids don't take too much of a hit because of the financial difficulties.
Dick
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment