Chicago City Wire

Former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Paul Vallas took pride in inheriting a school district with a $1 billion structural deficit and turning it into $1 billion balance with 70,000 new students when he left the district six years later. 

That monumental turnaround of a troubled school system is likely why Vallas is so concerned about CPS now despite no longer being in his district leadership role. 

"[There is a] record Chicago school budget," Vallas said in an April 28 tweet. "Most expensive teacher contract ever, $925 million in federal COVID money, gets 12 months of closed school campuses and 15 days of in-school instruction this year."

CPS reopened for in-person learning on April 19, but many say the autonomy of a local school district's decision-making power to close or reopen for class is at risk from a new bill from Gov. J.B. Pritzker that would give the governor full control in shutting schools down. 

Vallas said that CPS parents can "expect more of the same next year" if something isn't done. 

"Demand school choice or tax refund," he wrote. 

Vallas ran an unsuccessful campaign for Chicago mayor in 2019, and his turnaround of the CPS system was the crown jewel of his platform. 

"I’ve always been a problem-solver," Vallas said in a WGN radio interview. "My approach has always been to go in, bring financial stability to the systems that I’ve taken responsibility for, design budgets that are long-term financial plans that actually invest in the community to generate growth.”