Chicago Schools Delay 875 Million Bond Sale

FRAN SPIELMAN AND DAN MIHALOPOULOS:

The Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday abruptly put off $875 million in borrowing needed to ease its financial crunch amid signs it would pay a heavy price — in the form of record-high interest rates — to attract investors.

The City of Chicago’s chief financial officer, Carole Brown, and CPS financial chief Ron DeNard tried to put the best possible face on the decision to postpone the bond sale one day after a preliminary interest rate of 7.7 percent was sent out to investors.