“Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees, more than 1,000 of them teachers, the district said Thursday night.
About half of the 1,036 teachers being let go are tenured. The latest layoffs, which also include 1,077 school staff members, are in addition to 855 employees — including 420 teachers — who were laid off last month as a result of the district’s decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program.
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel insists there’s no money for the schools, he’s planning to use $55 million in taxpayer funds for a new basketball arena for DePaul University (a private Catholic university) and a new hotel. If that sounds bad, it’s actually worse.”