Chicago Public Schools System to Cut Funding to Schools by 5% While Increasing System Budget while Losing Students

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Last fall, Chicago Public Schools heralded benefits such as science labs, iPads and extra cash going to schools that would take in students from permanently shuttered schools.

This year, those same schools are losing, on average, about 5 percent of their budgets — from $275.9 million at the end of 2014 to $262.6 million proposed for 2015, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of CPS’ proposed 2015 budget unveiled last week.

That’s a steeper loss on average than neighborhood schools overall, which will lose about 2.3 percent of their budgets compared with the 2014 school year that just ended, if the Board of Education approves CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s budget recommendations wholesale at the end of the month.

CPS’ 2015 budget is about 3 percent larger than its 2014 budget, though the district says it’ll serve about 100 fewer students, falling to 400,445 from the 400,545 it counted as enrolled on the 20th day of the 2013-14 school year.

The cost is going up , with less students! The great moments of public education!