At a Tuesday press conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson promised there would be no stalemate or school closures as Chicago Public Schools faces a $734 million budget deficit. ⁠ ⁠ He emphasized that he “dropped my [his] kids off to a public school.” The shortfall is driven by rising costs, the expiration of federal pandemic aid, and a disputed $175 million pension payment the city wants CPS to cover. ⁠ ⁠ Johnson says that the state of Illinois owes CPS $1.6 billion under its own funding formula—money that could close the gap and prevent painful cuts. ⁠ ⁠ #cps #johnson #budgetcuts #publicschool #mayorjohnson #chicago