This month marks yet another turning point in the checkered financial history of Chicago Public Schools. With a projected $734 million deficit , as estimated by the interim CEO, the Board of Education must pass a budget by the end of August. The decisions made in the coming days will determine whether CPS begins a path to fiscal stability — or plunges into a tailspin that will make recovery brutally painful.

Closing the gap was already a herculean task when it stood at $529 million, before the interim CEO added $175 million in the form of a pension reimbursement that City Hall has been attempting to strong-arm CPS into over the last year. Now, at $734 million, a solution is all but impossible without cuts to critical programs. The Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chica

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