Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As a proud graduate of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and an educator who has served our city’s students as a teacher, principal, and policy advisor for three decades, I am honored to be leading the District as Interim Superintendent/CEO.
When I took on this role in June of 2025, my top priorities were to successfully open schools, and to pass a balanced budget that was fiscally responsible, aligned to the vision outlined in the District’s five-year strategic plan, and designed to protect the investments that will allow CPS students to build on their impressive gains from the past several years.
With the expiration of pandemic relief funds now complete, our challenge this year was to close a significant budget gap. Through rigorously identifying efficiencies, and reducing spending across the District’s Central Office and citywide departments, we successfully closed that gap without reducing any of the funding allocated directly to schools.
The FY2026 budget, which totals $10.25 billion, maintains the overall funding provided to schools during the 2024-25 school year. It also funds all of the commitments made to our labor partners, avoids borrowing measures that would negatively impact the District’s financial future, and eliminates the risk of disruptive mid-year budget cuts.
This budget follows the revised funding model introduced by CPS last school year, which moved our District fully away from Student-Based Budgeting, which allocates resources to schools based largely on enrollment, and into an era of greater equity, where funding is provided to schools based primarily on student need.
The FY2026 budget reflects our District’s commitment to equity, transparency, and student-centered decision making. It includes funding for a recently revamped Arts Education Plan, and expands the District’s number of Sustainable Community Schools by 80 percent, providing more students from some of Chicago’s highest-need communities with the wrap-around services they need.
I am grateful to the hundreds of CPS students, parents, educators, labor leaders, and community partners who participated in a robust community engagement effort around the FY2026 budget. Their unique perspectives and honest input were critical in helping us shape a budget that supports CPS’ vision of a rigorous, joyful, and equitable education for every child.
Something we heard over and over again at these meetings was our communities' desire that CPS work collaboratively with our state and local partners around identifying new sources of revenue to support CPS schools. I wholeheartedly endorse this call to action, because while the structural reductions made in the FY2026 budget will improve our District’s financial outlook moving forward, more revenue is needed to secure long-term financial stability for CPS.
This must start with our partners at the State of Illinois providing CPS students with the equitable funding that the state itself has declared they need. According to Illinois’ own Evidence-Based Funding Formula (EBF), CPS is currently receiving just 73% of the funding needed to adequately support our schools. This is down from 79% last school year, and 81% in FY2024, marking a troubling eight point decline in state funding in just the past two years.
With support from our students, families, educators, and labor partners, CPS will continue advocating for the equitable state funding our students deserve. We will also continue partnering with the City of Chicago, and with our community and philanthropic partners, to leverage every dollar possible to support our students' continued success.
I appreciate the opportunity I now have to serve the District that helped shape who I am, and thank all of our District’s stakeholders for your partnership as we work toward our shared mission of providing every child from every community in Chicago with the education they deserve.
Sincerely,
Dr. Macquline King, Ed.D
Interim Chief Executive Officer/Superintendent
Chicago Public Schools
Public Hearings on Proposed FY2026 Budget
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Budget Hearing
Hearing time: 1:00PM – 2:30PM
Where:
Chicago Public Schools Loop Office
Board Room, Garden Level
42 W. Madison St.
Chicago, Illinois 60602
CPS staff, families, and community members are invited to attend this public hearing discussing the District's proposed 2026 fiscal year budget.
For these two Public Hearings, advance registration to speak will begin on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and will close on Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
Anyone interested in speaking can sign up. After the 48-hour registration period, a lottery will randomly select a set number of speakers from those who registered. For example, if 100 people register, the lottery might select 15 of them to speak.
To ensure equity of access to address the Board, an individual may not speak at back-to-back meetings and more than one meeting per month.
Advance registration during this period is available by the following methods:
• Online: www.cpsboe.org (recommended)
• Phone: (773) 553-1600
Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY25 Proposed Budget via the Written Comments Form on the Board’s website at www.cpsboe.org or mailed to 42 W. Madison Street, Garden Level by 5:00 pm August 20, 2025.
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Budget Hearing
Hearing time: 4:30PM – 6:00PM
Where:
Chicago Public Schools Loop Office
Board Room, Garden Level
42 W. Madison St.
Chicago, Illinois 60602
CPS staff, families, and community members are invited to attend this public hearing discussing the District's proposed 2026 fiscal year budget.
For these two Public Hearings, advance registration to speak will begin on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and will close on Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
Anyone interested in speaking can sign up. After the 48-hour registration period, a lottery will randomly select a set number of speakers from those who registered. For example, if 100 people register, the lottery might select 15 of them to speak.
To ensure equity of access to address the Board, an individual may not speak at back-to-back meetings and more than one meeting per month.
Advance registration during this period is available by the following methods:
• Online: www.cpsboe.org (recommended)
• Phone: (773) 553-1600
Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY26 Proposed Budget via the Written Comments Form on the Board’s website at www.cpsboe.org or mailed to 42 W. Madison Street, Garden Level by 5:00 pm August 20, 2025.
Public Hearings on Proposed FY2026 Capital Plan
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Capital Plan Hearing
Hearing time: 12:00PM – 1:30PM
CPS staff, families, and community members are invited to attend this virtual public hearing discussing the District's 2026 fiscal year Capital Plan.
Where:
Members of the public can view this hearing via our YouTube channel during the time listed above at youtube.com/chipubschools
Advanced online registration to speak opens Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:00 pm or after all 30 speaking slots are filled.
Advance registration during this period is available by the following methods:
• Online: Registration Form (recommended)
• Phone: 773-553-1230
Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY2026 Proposed Capital Plan via the form below. The public comment form will remain open from Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Capital Plan Hearing
Hearing time: 6:00PM – 7:30PM
CPS staff, families, and community members are invited to attend this virtual public hearing discussing the District's 2026 fiscal year Capital Plan.
Where:
Members of the public can view this hearing via our YouTube channel during the time listed above at youtube.com/chipubschools
Advanced online registration to speak opens Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:00 pm or after all 30 speaking slots are filled.
Advance registration during this period is available by the following methods:
• Online: Registration Form (recommended)
• Phone: 773-553-1230
Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY2026 Proposed Capital Plan via the form below. The public comment form will remain open from Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm.
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Capital Plan Hearing
Hearing time: 3:00PM – 4:30PM
CPS staff, families, and community members are invited to attend this virtual public hearing discussing the District's 2026 fiscal year Capital Plan.
Where:
Members of the public can view this hearing via our YouTube channel during the time listed above at youtube.com/chipubschools
Advanced online registration to speak opens Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5:00 pm or after all 30 speaking slots are filled.
Advance registration during this period is available by the following methods:
• Online: Registration Form (recommended)
• Phone: 773-553-1230
Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY2026 Proposed Capital Plan via the form below. The public comment form will remain open from Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm and closes Thursday, August 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm.