As we continue to confront the devastating realities of the proposed SY26-27 school budgets, I want to remind every member that CPAA’s first and most urgent priority has been fighting to protect Assistant Principals as foundational positions in every school. We have aggressively challenged the district’s decision to eliminate foundational AP allocations, filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge after CPS refused to honor our cease and desist demand, and continue pressing the district at the bargaining table for solutions that recognize the indispensable role Assistant Principals play in student safety, instructional leadership, operational stability, compliance, and school culture.
Beyond our fight to preserve foundational Assistant Principal positions, CPAA has consistently advocated for equitable staffing, safe learning environments, sustainable workloads, adequate operational funding, and staffing protections that ensure school leaders can meet the academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and safety needs of the students and communities we serve.
Over the last several weeks, I have received dozens of heartbreaking messages from principals and assistant principals across our city describing the impossible realities these proposed budgets are creating for school communities.
What we are witnessing is not simply a difficult budget cycle. It is a direct threat to student safety, instructional quality, school stability, and educational equity across Chicago.
School leaders are being forced into impossible choices: eliminating assistant principals, interventionists, SECAs, counselors, clerks, deans, school assistants, coaches, teachers, and security personnel simply to keep schools operational. Many principals report that after attempting to preserve critical leadership positions, they are left with little to no operational funding for curriculum, MTSS supports, instructional materials, technology, maintenance contracts, or student programming.
One principal shared that in order to keep an assistant principal position, they were forced to eliminate both a school assistant and assistant clerk position, leaving the school dangerously under-resourced for student supervision before school, during lunch and recess, and after school.
Another principal explained that after purchasing an assistant principal and interventionist position, only $13,000 remained for the entire school year’s operating expenses, including curriculum purchases, MTSS programming, and copy machine maintenance contracts directly aligned to their Continuous Improvement Work Plan priorities.
At one CPS Fine & Performing Arts Elementary School, the principal is losing an assistant principal, interventionist, and school-based coach while already operating without a dean. The principal stated plainly: “If I don’t have support, I will just become an operational leader instead of an instructional leader.” That statement should concern every stakeholder in this district. When school leaders are pulled away from classrooms and instructional leadership simply to manage crises, supervision, and compliance demands, students lose access to the high-quality educational experiences CPS claims to prioritize.
At another Dual Language Elementary School, despite being newly designated as both a Sustainable Community School and a Dual Language Lab School, the school lost both its assistant principal and lead coach positions. The principal outlined the overwhelming responsibilities now falling on one administrator alone: REACH evaluations, MTSS coordination, crisis response, family engagement, special education compliance, dual language implementation, professional learning, teacher support, and management of extensive community partnerships.
At one selective enrollment high school, projected losses include eight core teachers, two interventionists, two special education teachers, a dean, a restorative justice coordinator, and potentially even a security officer. Another High School, school leaders are losing teachers, SECAs, case management supports, counselors, and instructional leadership positions while still attempting to preserve veteran assistant principal leadership that students and staff depend on every day.
Perhaps most alarming is the district’s refusal to fully count Pre-K students in determining administrative allocations. Multiple principals and assistant principals have described how schools serving hundreds of Pre-K students are being denied foundational assistant principal positions because those children are excluded from staffing formulas. One assistant principal whose position was eliminated despite serving a school community of more than 300 students across multiple buildings reminded district leadership that Pre-K students are not invisible. They require supervision, compliance oversight, instructional support, special education coordination, family engagement, and emergency response just like every other child in CPS.
These cuts are not occurring in isolation. They directly contradict CPS’s own “Success 2029: Together We Rise” strategic commitments around equitable resources, whole-child supports, strong community partnerships, and rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experiences for every student. They also undermine the district’s own public assurances that school funding levels would remain stable while foundational supports are simultaneously disappearing from schools.
Let us be clear: these budget decisions are not simply about administrators. They are about whether students will have safe lunchrooms, functioning MTSS systems, adequate special education supports, restorative practices, instructional leadership, stable school climates, meaningful family engagement, and equitable access to quality educational opportunities regardless of zip code.
The school leaders of Chicago did not create this fiscal crisis, but we are once again being asked to absorb its consequences at the expense of children.
CPAA will continue fighting for every school community impacted by these devastating cuts. We are actively engaging district leadership, pursuing legal and labor actions where appropriate, advocating for equitable staffing protections, and supporting members navigating impossible budget decisions.
We encourage every member to remain engaged, continue documenting the direct impact these cuts will have on your schools in writing, and stay connected to our ongoing advocacy efforts, by frequently visiting the www.mycpaa.org Members Only website for the latest bargaining updates, legal developments, budget guidance, organizing efforts, and information regarding our continued fight to protect the essential administrative supports our students and school communities deserve.
