There’s an old saying in economics: “If something can’t go on forever, it won’t.” Well, Chicago’s public school system just slammed headfirst into that wall of reality — and the splinters are flying everywhere.
The city’s public schools are staring down the barrel of a jaw-dropping $734 million budget deficit for the 2025–2026 school year. In response, the district is preparing to lay off nearly 1,500 teachers and staffers, including classroom assistants and security officers. But don’t worry, I’m sure the city’s sanctuary hotel program is still running smoothly.
This isn’t just a financial blip. It’s a full-on disaster. At a community meeting Monday, held at Dyett High School, angry parents and concerned residents packed the room to hear from CPS brass. The district’s chief budget officer, Michael Sitkowski, laid it out bluntly: “We are $734 million short of potential expenses next year.” That’s not belt-tightening. That’s triage.
Of course, if you’ve been paying attention, this was entirely predictable. For years now, Chicago’s leadership — particularly under Mayor Brandon Johnson — has been chasing every woke progressive policy it can find while ignoring basic fiscal responsibility. Instead of focusing on core services like education, Johnson’s administration has poured time, energy, and taxpayer money into sheltering and supporting illegal immigrants under Chicago’s sanctuary city status.
Here’s a wild thought: maybe, just maybe, the city should prioritize American citizens who live, work, and pay taxes in Chicago — including the parents and kids now facing the gutting of their schools.
Now the district is scrambling. Five “community listening sessions” have been scheduled to figure out what to cut, how deep to slice, and who gets left behind. Parents and even students were asked to take part in these roundtables. Translation: the adults in charge spent recklessly, and now they want the public to help clean up the mess.
Meanwhile, New York City voters might want to tune in — because if mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani ever gets the keys to City Hall, this is your future. His radical proposals — from defunding police to government-run grocery stores — mirror the same ideology that’s now turning Chicago into a fiscal crater.
You can only ignore math and reality for so long. Chicago just got a crash course.
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