CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools this week announced it is laying off more than 1,400 workers to adjust for enrollment and programming changes.
The district confirmed that the layoffs of 1,458 employees on Friday.
What we know:
The total includes 432 teachers, about 1.8% of the total teaching force, and 311 paraprofessionals and school-related personnel.
CPS said such layoffs are part of traditional school-level changes it makes nearly every year. Last year, the district laid off 1,410 workers, but about 80% of them were able to find new positions at CPS before the start of the next school year.
The district said it is working “diligently” to maintain or improve that rate again this year.
In a statement, a CPS spokesperson said:
“As part of our annual workforce planning and budgeting process, CPS evaluates staffing and resource allocations to ensure we are meeting the evolving needs of students and schools. These staffing adjustments are part of a systemwide effort to align resources more equitably and strategically based on school enrollment trends, academic programming, and student needs.”
The backstory:
This is the second round of layoffs this summer.
Two weeks ago, 161 employees were fired, including 87 crossing guards.
Back in May, CPS also laid off 530 tutors originally hired with pandemic relief funds, a program the district said did not yield the results it hoped for.
The district spokesperson also said this week’s layoffs were not related to its efforts to close a more than $700 million budget deficit for the 2026 fiscal year.
CPS released its school-based budgets for the upcoming year, in which school funding was being maintained at the same level systemwide.