Delayed property tax bills cost Chicago Public Schools $34 million

By LyLena Estabine

05/26/2026

Chicago Public Schools borrowed over $1.8 billion amid a delay in last year’s Cook County bills, adding interest costs and exposing the fragility of the district’s finances.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools has same credit rating as Colombia, Vietnam

By Mailee Smith

08/21/2025

The Chicago Public Schools board is set to vote on the district’s 2025-2026 budget on Aug. 28. It must close a $734 million budget hole, but the district’s finances are a mess.

Testimony: Chicago pension systems’ dire finances cannot afford benefit boost

By Bryce Hill

02/27/2025

Members of the Illinois Senate Pensions Committee heard from pension administrators and government unions about the need for more benefits from retirement systems that are already broken. The Illinois Policy Institute was there, too, to represent taxpayers’ interests.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s eventual pension payout could exceed $5M

By Bryce Hill

12/03/2024

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pensions are worth an estimated $3.8 million after only four years as a teacher and one term as mayor. It could go even higher, depending on his next job moves.

TAGS: Brandon Johnson, pensions

Chicago has more public pension debt than 43 states

By Ravi Mishra

08/15/2024

Chicago’s pension systems for city workers have $51 billion in debt, so much that they are in worse shape than 43 states. Fixing them requires Chicago’s mayor to push for a change in the Illinois Constitution.

TAGS: Chicago, pensions

Chicago has more pension debt than 44 states

By Justin Carlson

03/28/2023

Despite claims of Chicago’s improving financial condition, the $48 billion in pension debt for the city’s core retirement systems continues to loom over its fiscal future.

Loophole will let Brandon Johnson collect public pension now worth $1.1M

By Bryce Hill

03/23/2023

Mayoral candidate and Chicago Teachers Union organizer Brandon Johnson is eligible to collect an estimated $1.1 million pension through the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund despite only teaching for four years. His future path could yield a public pension worth over $2.8 million.

TAGS: Brandon Johnson, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

11 things you need to know about Chicago teacher pensions

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

03/01/2016

Pension holidays, steep increases in teachers' salaries, and lopsided ratios of teacher contributions to pension payouts have caused the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund’s unfunded liabilities to shoot up to $9 billion in 2015.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, pensions

5 reasons why Chicago can’t afford to get steamrolled by another CTU contract

By Ted Dabrowski

02/01/2016

CPS is broke. To preserve funding for the classroom and Chicago's children, and to keep CPS from going belly up, CPS officials must broker significant concessions from the union.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, pensions

CPS pensions: From retirement security to political slush fund

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

10/06/2015

CPS leaders have brought the teachers’ pension fund to the brink of insolvency. Now they’re counting on taxpayers to clean up the mess.

Chicago Teachers Pension Fund

Delayed property tax bills cost Chicago Public Schools $34 million

Chicago Public Schools has same credit rating as Colombia, Vietnam

Testimony: Chicago pension systems’ dire finances cannot afford benefit boost

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s eventual pension payout could exceed $5M

Chicago has more public pension debt than 43 states

Chicago has more pension debt than 44 states

Loophole will let Brandon Johnson collect public pension now worth $1.1M

11 things you need to know about Chicago teacher pensions

5 reasons why Chicago can’t afford to get steamrolled by another CTU contract

CPS pensions: From retirement security to political slush fund

Pathway to a Profession: How Apprenticeships Could Reshape Illinois’ Beauty Service Industry

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students