But in a $9.9 billion proposed budget for next year released this week, Chicago Public Schools has avoided this approach. The district increased funding at charter schools by about 2.5% — even as some charters with shrinking enrollments are in line for steep cuts in the new budget blueprint.
This year, CPS overhauled budgeting for traditional campuses to deemphasize enrollment size and prioritize student needs. But for now, the district is sticking with so-called student-based budgeting for charters, which is more closely tied to enrollment; CPS says state requirements make it trickier to change budgeting for charter campuses. Yet as the district prepares a strategic plan to revitalize neighborhood schools, anxiety about how that vision will impact charters persists.
With roughly 55,000 students, charters serve about a fifth of Chicago’s public school student population. State law requires districts to provide charter schools money proportionate to what it spends at district-run campuses.
On a per-pupil basis, proposed funding for Chicago charters in the budget released this week grew less than 1% over last year, with average spending at about $16,200 per pupil, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.