>> Chicago school board members may have passed a budget, but questions still remain the Board of Education last week approved nearly 10 billion dollar budget that relies on an additional 150 million dollars in state funding backers of the amended budget say it's money CPS is owed.

But critics warn that if the funding doesn't materialize, the district could face even deeper cuts during the school year.

Joining us now are Micaela Blaze, the CBS board member representing District 5 B, which includes North Lawndale Garfield Park and Jessica Bigs, CPS board member representing District 6 B, which includes the Loop and the near Southside.

Thanks to both for joining us.

Thanks for having us, Brenda.

So Micaela you are the board member who introduced this budget amendment last week, assuming the 150 million dollars more in state funding.

>> Why did you offer that amendment right think that was the way to go?

I really believe that over 2000 teachers being eliminated from our classrooms as a real problem, talked often about making sure that there were no cuts to the classroom.

We said that over and over again as a board in totality.

And so the idea that this budget thus my second budget that we're passing and those kind of cuts were going to be devastating.

The 10% of teachers in Latino community.

We're going to be cut and the and the it wasn't just teachers.

It's administrators and those teachers do after school programs.

I mean, the ripple effect was going to be tremendous.

And so that was unacceptable to me.

I don't feel I've never I have 64 schools in my district that never been to one of them where they said, well, there's just way too many teachers around here.

So yeah, I have a mandate from my folks my constituents to make sure that schools have what they need.

>> Jessica, you voted against that amended budget holes like I did.

I think we can all agree that we need the state to do more to support our schools and the state passed its budget back in May at the end of the spring session and made its allocation that the district has counted on in this budget.

And the state has very clearly said that is the revenue that that CPS can expect this school year.

So while this was a tremendously challenging budget cycle.

And I think that Dr King and her team did.

Fantastic job doing as much as they could to protect our schools and classrooms.

We're also in a moment where we have to live within our means and we were presented with a balanced budget that assumed reasonable sources of revenue and additional money from the state is is not and additional reasonable source of revenue.

Kyla Illinois House Speaker Welsh voiced his support for providing supplemental funding, but any changes to the state's spending plan?

They're going to require a supermajority.

When we get to that veto session.

>> In both chambers, are you confident that the that lawmakers will deliver the votes needed for that money?

>> I'm really excited, As a result of inserting that budget requirement.

We've changed the conversation.

Governor JB Pritzker earlier in the year.

So there's no money first for CPS.

And now he's saying he's interested in looking into to seeing the plan as speaker.

Chris Welch, as you mentioned, demonstrated his support President Don Harmon.

Also we had senator might come to the board meeting and and make sure that he expressed his support.

We've got a lot of support in Springfield and it's time to push its time to really put all.

the politics and just make make things happen for the kids.

I didn't come here cut jobs.

I didn't come here to give people in my community less.

I'm I'm actually really excited about how the conversation has changed over the last week.

>> 150 million dollars.

How did you arrive at that number or is that just the size of the hold that we needed filling last week?

>> That the 150 million was compensate those teachers that they were going eliminate.

So for me, it was easy, it was it was easy to go ahead and push for that number there were other members of the board that pushed for additional 85 million dollars from the city to prevent furloughs.

I'm here with them to fight for that money as well.

>> Jessica, you said, you know, the district has to live within its means.

The loss of that many teachers and support staff.

I mean, do you consider that living within the district's means or do you believe there could have been other ways to trim to trim the budget as the district needed?

Yeah.

>> You know, what we know is that even in a moment like this about 65 to 85% of the teachers who are laid off, we'll be able to find other positions back within the district.

So while it is really striking to hear right, 2000 teachers, when we know that many of this as a result of movement of students and families and then we need our educators to go where students are.

I think no cut is a good cut.

And right, there are real constraints that we're under right now.

>> What happens if the state does not come through with this money?

Well, we we know a little bit because we've been here before in in 2016 2017 we were in another moment.

Actually, I was a principal at the time and the district assumed revenue from the state that never materialized.

And so I very clearly recall in the middle of the school year when that money did not arrive.

We were forced into numerous furloughs about twice as many teachers had to be laid off during that time to make up for that first part of the year, we had staff lose cost of living adjustments.

And I think importantly, the district's started some of the most risky borrowing that it's engaged and even today we're paying about 200 million dollars in debt service and interest on the borrowing that occurred during that time just to keep our doors open.

That's money taken away from teachers in classrooms.

>> Mckay, when we know lawmakers and Governor Pritzker, you had to close the state's own budget gap during its budget season.

Where do you think additional funding could come from for CPS?

So we have over a billion dollar and the revenues surpassed from the state that from the budget that just closed in go back to 2017.

That was the year that the ebf was past, which resulted in the largest increase of funding to CPS ever.

I think putting pressure our our financial partners is important.

The same way CPS puts pressure on city in the city council to increase their to funds what they can assume.

I think we have to make sure that the partner, the state who it's actually in the Constitution, too fund public education needs to really think about the fact that their commitment to CPS is excuse me is only at 25%.

The rest files property tax owners, property owners their taxes.

And so it's time that we all really make that commitment.

We stick to what we've been saying repeatedly.

No cuts, the classrooms.

We need more for kids.

Not not less.

Jessica CPS is also counting on 285 million dollars into funding from the city.

Your fellow board members have said if we can count on additional money from the city, we should be able to count on additional money from the state.

>> That said, though, do you do believe that to funding the counting on it?

The way the district does in this budget?

Is that any more reliable than counting on money from the state?

Yeah, I mean, we need to be able to count on revenue from all of our partners.

I think the key difference here.

>> This is the state finished their budget cycle back in May and made their allocation.

So it's very clear what the state is going to be able to provide CPS this year.

The city of Chicago enters into their budget cycle in October, right during the course of our fiscal year.

And so they also have a major budget gap to fill.

As we spoke with spoken with members of the City Council, it seems very reasonable that the city will surplus will have to surplus enough to for their own budget to be able to meet this 285 million for the district.

And that's revenue.

We know that will come in in this fiscal year.

So I've also talked with members with folks at City Hall and they said the 2.85 Is a real stretch.

>> They said the 100 million that was initially introduce was going to be tough, but they were going to do it.

They said 200 is really going to be problematic.

And then the 2.85, there were certain that shoulders.

So I think similarly to last year when a group of us board members went to city Hall and we met with the mayor and we were able to secure the record surplus that we got last year.

I'm hoping all the board members will come together and help in the state and make sure.

And let's not forget, we funded the entire transit system in veto session.

The buses and trains are about stop running.

But we were able to get that funding in veto session.

I think shouldn't just give people a pass.

Everyone.

I'm campaign trail after campaign trail says the kids are the most important education is the most important people love to yell at me at at events and say our kids can't read.

And you know, those kind of things.

before it time to invest what if the state doesn't come up off of it?

>> In veto session.

Then we will have to what I'm here to tell you is this is an opportunity.

This is an opportunity for us all to come together as a board to not play politics to You know, the same folks who don't want to go and harassed the the state for money have the same folks who are talking about school closings.

We've got a lot of challenges that we have to face We're sorry, we're out of time.

Just a really quick 10 seconds is the district be able to make payroll?

certainly hope that they will be able to make payroll.

I think there's really critical question in this moment about what those borrowing costs will be.

>> As a result of this maneuver.

Okay.

Jessica bigs, McKay ablaze, thanks to both.

Best of luck Up next, responding to a nationwide blood supply crisis.

>> Education reporting on