A Guest Post by Principal Paul Riskus of Walt Disney Magnet School
Jun 25, 2025
After eight years of financial stability, partly provided through federal COVID-19 funding, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) faces a deficit for the first time since 2017.
While the Chicago Board of Education works to identify a long-term, sustainable solution, CPS principals and Local School Councils (LSCs) have already completed their plans as best they could for the upcoming school year.
Principals like me are responsible for aligning resources to school and community needs while working with their LSCs to approve local spending priorities. That takes work and time, even when budgets aren’t tight. As a former principal, our new interim CEO is as familiar with this process as anyone.
This year, budgets are both tight and uncertain. Principals received their school resource allocations from CPS on May 15 and submitted final spending plans on June 5. These “flat” budget estimates assumed an overall system deficit of $229 million, and a caution that the deficit could increase to $529 million, if the anticipated revenue of $300 million does not come through. Securing these funds for our schools, which would allow us to keep our current staffing allocations, is essential and should be a priority of CPS leadership and the Chicago Board of Education.
In an already challenging environment, CPS leadership and the Chicago Board of Education should focus on minimizing the short-term impact on students and maximizing the long-term financial stability of the system. Borrowing more money only contributes to a rockier financial future, which we’ve seen examples of too many times.
I’m hopeful that CPS leadership and the board, along with the city, will work toward finalizing a budget that reflects the budgets we received in mid-May. In a recent poll commissioned by The Chicago Public Education Fund, voters overwhelmingly rejected cuts when asked how they’d prefer CPS address the budget shortfall. Instead, they called on city and state leaders to explore additional revenue first, from state and local sources, a view echoed most strongly by parents and Black voters. The message is clear: Do everything you can to find more revenue before making further cuts, including securing the additional revenue assumed in this budget.
If budget changes must be made, we need to know about these changes as soon as possible, and we need to leave decisions to those who know schools best: principals and their LSCs. Voters trust local decision-makers ahead of the central office, the Board of Education, or other elected officials. More than 75% of voters say principals, not CPS district staff, should control key school staffing and budget decisions. Across race, age, and region, Chicagoans want school-level leaders and elected local representatives to have the autonomy to do what’s right for their students.
Principals and LSCs around the city have been intentional and creative with the tight budgets they received this May, striving to sustain resources and positions that our kids need most. The school where I serve as principal has already doubled down on fundraising efforts to stay afloat while downsizing on non-student-facing positions and resources. Thanks to the hard work and dedication from our school community, we have been able to sustain the current momentum we have, benefiting the nearly 1,400 students at our school (almost 850 of whom live below the poverty line). Most schools, however, have limited opportunities to raise significant amounts of money on their own. If the anticipated revenue of $300 million does not come through, schools will be put in the difficult position of cutting people and resources that Chicago’s children need.
Let’s do everything possible to secure available revenue before we chip away at already-limited school resources. If tough trade-offs become necessary, let’s trust our principals and LSCs to lead and stand behind the tough decisions they must make.
Paul Riskus, Ed.D., started his educational career as a high school chemistry and physics teacher in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood at Urban Prep High School. At Urban Prep, he also coached football and track, and became the Science Department chair. After spending his resident leadership year at Garcia High School, he served as the assistant principal at Chicago’s largest elementary school, Walt Disney Magnet School. He currently serves as Disney’s principal and is humbled and excited to be in this role. Riskus values the importance of investing in other leaders. He is a co-founder and volunteer of the nonprofit Teachers Supporting Teachers and has recently led several principal development opportunities through The Fund. Paul is a family and community partner, placing a high value on cultural and intellectual diversity while creating optimal postsecondary opportunities for all students. He has a shared approach to leadership that strives to empower school stakeholders to create a secure environment that dreams big, has high expectations for all, and offers support that makes success possible for everyone.