Mayor Rahm Emanuel released the 2015 $8.9 billion budget, which is set to balance the city’s finances without implementing new property, sales or gas taxes for the fourth consecutive year, on Oct. 15.

The budget plan has saved taxpayers more than $470 million over the past 3 1/2 years, which continues to be invested in the education of Chicago’s Children, and the health and safety of residents, according to the budget. Summer job opportunities and after-school activities for Chicago’s youth will also be expanding, heralding a 30 percent increase in the number of youth accessing services since 2011, according to an Oct. 15 press release from the mayor’s office.

Emanuel will allocate $15.5 million to early education opportunities by providing preschool education to 25,000 4-year-olds from low-income families who qualify for the federal free or reduced student lunch program, according to the Oct. 15 release.

The mayor’s press office and Chicago Public Schools did not respond to comment requests from The Chronicle regarding the free preschool program as of press time. 

During the budget address to the City Council, Emanuel stated that his administration set a new record for the graduation rate for CPS last year at nearly 70 percent, and 82 percent of the class of 2017 is on track to graduate.

The new budget prompted the Chicago Teachers Union to respond negatively in an Oct. 15 press release that highlighted last year’s school closures and deficit, and the termination of several after-school programs as a result. 

Graduation rates were improving prior to Emanuel’s election, and the credit should be attributed to the staff of each school, rather than his

administration, Kurt Hilgendorf, a policy researcher for the Chicago

Teachers Union, said.

“The work that happens to go into [graduation rates] has come from people in the school: teachers, teachers assistants and staff in the schools that help students be on that track to graduate,” Hilgendorf said. “That process has already started before he even came in to be involved [as mayor].”

However, Emanuel did take time out of his speech to acknowledge all who have helped Chicago’s students in his address.

“I want to take a moment to thank all of the principals who have shown great leadership, the teachers who motivate our children, the parents who are engaged, the school board, and  [CPS] CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett for making this process and these results possible,” Emanuel said. “They deserve a big hand, and they deserve our continued backing.”

The CTU press release stated that Emanuel is taking credit for policies he did not create. Most policies, including the Freshman On-Track program, a program aimed toward keeping high school freshman motivated to graduate started in 2007 by CPS, were implemented prior to Emanuel taking office in 2011, Hilgendorf said.

“[The Freshmen On-Track program is] sort of a big indicator, and that goes back to 2009,” Hilgendorf said. “That’s one of the things that was a huge push well before Rahm even came to the city.”

While the 2015 budget is modeled to give back to educational programs, the CTU press release also stated that Emanuel has declined to comment on the harsh budget cuts he has approved in the past.

“When CPS switched over to its student-based budgeting system, what happened was at the same time there [were] also deep major cuts to the budget that nobody wants to talk about,” Hilgendorf said. “So traditional public schools got cut to the tune of $160 million.”

The $160 million trimmed from last year’s budget was never restored, said Hilgendorf. Because of this, Hilgendorf said public schools in Chicago have suffered more than $300 million in cuts from the last year and this year alone. Hilgendorf also said that Emanuel cut so much from last year’s budget that after-school programs were cut from many schools.

“Over that two-year period, [Emanuel] closed 50 schools [and] thousands of teachers were laid off,” Hilgendorf said. “These are things, despite claiming [that] there was an extra $100 million going to after school matters, you have schools that took million dollar cuts to a single school, let alone added to a city-wide program, so that’s the real issue of schools being forced to choose between [for example] an art or a music teacher, not being able to have both.”

Emanuel pointed out in his speech that while the city has made progress with his previous budget, residents deserve more.

“We can and must do better,” Emanuel said. “We owe our children the courage to do what is best for them, regardless of the politics, to secure their education and

their future.”CPS