CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools leaders unveiled a proposed budget Wednesday that includes layoffs of 760 teachers and 801 school-based support staff, along with five furlough days, to help close a $732 million deficit.

Some of the layoffs are the result of the district reducing its student-to-teacher allocation ratio by one, a cost-saving measure first outlined in May. The rest are part of the district’s annual budgeting process, where school leaders reevaluate staffing based on shifting student needs.

In previous years, roughly 75% of impacted staff have been rehired at other schools in the district, officials said.

This year is one of the district’s toughest budget seasons in a decade. CPS leaders say they’ve tried to shield classrooms from direct cuts, but years of trimming have made that harder. Last year, CPS reduced non-school-based expenses by $272 million. This year, another $105 million will be cut. The district laid off 162 central office and citywide workers Friday.

“The budget we present today is balanced, but getting there was not easy; some difficult decisions were made,” CPS CEO Macquline King said in a news briefing Wednesday.

If more money doesn’t materialize from the city or the state, CPS will turn five professional development days in 2027 into unpaid furlough days. The perennially cash-strapped district last resorted to the tactic in 2017. Each furlough day saves the district $17 million, but reviving the practice would likely ignite tensions with the Chicago Teachers Union and other labor groups.

Most teachers get 208 paid days per year, with 10 paid professional development days, per the CTU — cutting 5 days from that schedule would amount to nearly 2% of their salary, eating into their guaranteed annual raises.

“Students have had to learn in overcrowded classes, practice under unpaid coaches, and be counseled by caseworkers with loads beyond compare all year, and now CPS thinks they can plan a week of furloughs and tell the staff who serve them they don’t have a job?” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said in a statement Wednesday.

The district will also implement a mid-year spending freeze, beginning in January.

Billions of dollars in long-term debt, aging buildings and rising operating costs have strained the district’s finances. At the same time, CPS is funded at just 73% of what Illinois deems “adequate” under the state’s funding formula. But beyond property tax increases, which are capped under state law, the district has few levers to increase its revenue.

Funding for assistant principals at campuses with fewer than 250 students was also cut, though many schools ultimately used discretionary funding to keep the position.

“We’re really turning over every rock in this area,” said Emila Zoko, the district’s acting chief budget officer.

Officials are asking the school board to pass the budget July 30, a month before the state-mandated deadline — partly to secure short-term loans to cover operational costs. The district’s cash flow naturally fluctuates with the timing of revenue, but repeated delays in Cook County property taxes have worsened the problem. CPS will hit its borrowing limit for its previous fiscal year in August, so banks won’t approve new tax anticipation notes, or TANs, until the next budget is passed, officials said.

Last year, the school board passed the district’s $10.25 billion budget at the end of August after protracted debate. A simple majority, or 11 of out 21 members, is needed for approval.

The budget banks on $200 million from tax-increment financing districts, or TIF — special taxing zones aimed at spurring redevelopment by pooling increases in property tax revenue within a designated area. When city leaders declare a surplus, that pooled money is returned proportionally to the taxing districts, with roughly half going to CPS.

In December, aldermen passed a budget with a $1 billion TIF surplus, generating a $522 million windfall for the school district. But because the city doesn’t finalize its TIF surplus until later in the year, district officials don’t know exactly how much they’ll receive when building a budget.

For CPS to receive $200 million from TIF, City Hall would need to declare a surplus of roughly $400 million. That’s lower compared to recent years.

Notably, the budget does not include a disputed $175 million pension reimbursement to the city for non-teaching staff. Johnson and his predecessor, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, argued that CPS should be responsible, though the payment is technically the city’s legal obligation. More than half of the fund’s beneficiaries, called the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund, are current or former CPS employees.

The back-and-forth between City Hall and district officials was part of what led to the 2024 firing without cause of former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Last year, the district ultimately agreed to make the reimbursement, contingent on extra TIF surplus funding from the city.

It’s unclear if city officials have agreed to foot the bill this year. But excluding it outright from the district’s budget could tee up another money fight with City Hall.

—Tribune reporter Kate Perez contributed.

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