The Chicago Board of Education delivered a stunning defeat to Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday by approving a budget that does not guarantee the school district will make a controversial municipal pension payment — a move that could leave a $175 million hole in the city’s bank account.
The budget, approved by 12 of 20 board members, also does not include a loan, which the mayor’s office sought in order to cover the pension payment and other unexpected shortfalls.
The mayor’s appointees and allies spoke against the budget but never put up an amendment that would have guaranteed CPS would reimburse City Hall $175 million for the pension payment and would have created the possibility that CPS could take a loan.
The budget counts on a record $379 million in surplus funds from the city’s sp