Chicago City Wire

Calls by the Chicago Teachers Union for increased funding due to the recent snowstorms in Chicago are being criticized.

The issue has sparked a debate, with Illinois Policy’s Austin Berg questioning the CTU's stance.

“This snowstorm has made it clear there’s more to do when it comes to Chicago Public Schools building the muscle of partnering with the Chicago Teachers Union,” the Chicago Teacher’s Union said in a post on X.

Berg questioned the CTU’s complaints of "divestment" and pointed toward an earlier post on X by the CTU.

“Decades of divestment and privatization means Chicago Public Schools is not prepared for climate disaster,” the Chicago Teachers Union posted on X.

Berg posted the graph below showing the school system had received $1.93 billion more per year since the Invest in Kids Act private school tax scholarship program had been started matching low income students with scholarship funding.

According to Illinois Policy, Chicago Public Schools has received the additional state and local funding since the 2018-19 school year when the Invest in Kids scholarship tax-credit program began awarding scholarships to low-income students for attending schools of their choice.

Despite a decline in enrollment by over 39,000 students since the program's inception, state and local funding to CPS has continued to increase.

The scholarship program, which recently was stopped after sunsetting, faced opposition from the Chicago Teachers Union, which claims it hurts public school funding. However, the data suggests that the increased funding has not negatively impacted public schools,

Meanwhile the scholarship program has been shown to provide better educational opportunities for low-income students.

Despite the funding increase, student proficiency in core subjects in CPS has declined, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the education system.