Chicago Public Schools will fall $340 million short of its needs for the 2008-09 fiscal year,  which begins July 1, said CEO Arne Duncan in a news conference Thursday morning. To help close the gap, the system plans to cut $90 million from the budget for  transportation, food and general operations costs. The cuts will also eliminate some administrative jobs in the system's central office. CPS's current budget is slightly more than $4.6 billion.

Falling enrollment was partially to blame for the budget shortfall, said Duncan. Enrollment this year in Chicago's public schools is 408,600, down from approximately 421,000 in the 2005-06 school year. 

CPS plans to cover the remaining $250 million deficit by drawing $50 million from its reserve fund and by budgeting $20 million from projected increases in  property tax revenue. The district will petition legislators in Springfield for the remaining $180 million.

“We respectfully ask our elected representatives in Springfield to give every consideration to our funding needs,” Duncan said. “[And] to find the political courage to put funding reform on the agenda this year.”

Matt Vanover, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Education, said the state will announce its proposed spending for education Wednesday when Gov. Blagojevich introduces his fiscal 2008 budget.

Illinois ranks 48^th in the nation in terms of each state’s share of education funding, said Duncan. Illinois covers approximately one-third of the cost of education in the state compared with a national average of about one-half.

Duncan also emphasized inequity in per-pupil spending as a justification for seeking additional funding.

“Some school districts in the area spend close to $20,000 per pupil, per year,” he said. “If CPS got an extra $4,000 per year, that would be an extra $1.6 billion. That would do a lot to accelerate student achievement.” CPS currently spends approximately $10,500 per pupil. 

The budget shortfall means not only employee cuts; student programs also may suffer. Many items in the proposed budget such as full-day kindergarten and after-school programs may never become reality.

“After years and years of debate and talk, Springfield has yet to act,” Duncan said. “We made every effort to advance funding reform [last year]….but we were disappointed."

Duncan remains optimistic, however. “If you have political courage, anything’s possible,” he said. “Forty-seven states have figured this out better than us. This is not rocket science. As a state, we have simply undervalued children.”