Principals in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have long enjoyed a great degree of autonomy over the budgets of their individual schools. This means that when the district makes a major shift in the budget process — such as last year’s move from a student-based budgeting model to one providing a higher base level of resources to all schools — principal feedback is essential to ensuring the continued success of the new process. With year two of the new budget framework fast approaching, our Educator Advisory Committee (EAC) provided one way to gather and relay that feedback.
The EAC is a group of around 30 principals and assistant principals (APs) that we convene throughout each school year. They provide feedback on the work we do to support their fellow school leaders. For the first time, the members of last year’s EAC used their shared experiences to generate recommendations for policy changes to address staff shortages in CPS. The shift away from student-based budgeting provided a relevant topic for the second year of the EAC’s policy work.
This year, the EAC had the advantage of the prior year’s experience with its policy development process, allowing the group to start its work more quickly. However, with CPS’ budget office already working on putting together next year’s school budgets, the window for having the EAC’s recommendations taken into account for the coming year’s budget process was short. To meet this timeline, the EAC condensed its process into just a few months, with the goal of presenting a completed memo listing its recommendations to CPS leadership in early March.
As they did in 2024, EAC members began the process by sharing their experiences, detailing the high and low points of their work with the new budget framework. These conversations revealed unfamiliarity and frustration with certain aspects of the CPS’ budget framework, leading to recommendations that focused on transparency and flexibility around foundation positions (those that are funded by the district for every school) and the Opportunity Index (a formula that directs resources to schools that are the furthest from opportunity). Through a number of conversations, we and EAC members refined their recommendations into a memo, which we shared with the CPS Office of Finance.
For its March 6 session, the EAC welcomed CPS Chief Budget Officer Michael Sitkowski, along with staff from the Office of Finance, to present their budget memo and engage in conversation with the district’s budget leaders. The EAC’s co-chairs, along with other members, supported their presentation by providing context from their own schools, sharing the experiences that led to the recommendations. CPS staff provided more detail on aspects of the district’s budget process and expressed appreciation for the recommendations to ensure principals are more involved in developing this process.Â
The EAC members at this session found it to be a valuable experience. The principals and APs shared that, while the upcoming budget season will still be challenging, they appreciated the opportunity to meet with district leaders and share their experiences directly. The EAC will continue to support CPS through the budget process by providing dedicated sessions for sharing effective budgeting practices in the coming months.
The EAC’s policy development process once again shows the value of elevating school leader voices — to both the school leaders themselves and to the district as a whole. In a system where principal autonomy has led to major advances in student achievement, it is critical to uplift the experiences of the leaders who shape student learning in over 600 school communities across Chicago.