Mayor Brandon Johnson to request funding for Chicago Public Schools from lawmakers during Springfield, Illinois trip

CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Brandon Johnson is preparing to go on a trip to Springfield next week along with his top staff. The purpose of the trip is to promote his agenda to state lawmakers.

“We are going to have meetings and a serious conversation about what Chicago needs at this moment,” Johnson said.

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What Chicago needs is money, and lots of it, as the city faces a huge budget hole next year.

Recently, the mayor took action by establishing a budget working group through an executive order. This group consists of alderpersons, city hall staff, union, and business leaders. Despite his stance that cuts should not be the initial solution, Mayor Johnson is open to considering cuts if recommended by the group.

“I’ll look at them seriously. This is not a futile exercise. This is about the future of our economy,” Johnson said.

However, some of the mayor’s critics within the city council believe that his request for funding is coming too late. Alderman Brendan Reilly, who represents the 42nd Ward, expressed that the mayor should have presented a detailed budget plan much earlier.

“For the mayor to go to Springfield without having proposed cuts and restructuring our massive spending deficit, why would they give him more money until he has done the homework?” Reilly said.

The mayor’s Springfield agenda includes asking for Chicago Public Schools to be fully funded. Johnson blamed former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, two mayors ago, for “jacking up” Chicago’s education system by closing 50 schools. He compared Emanuel to President Donald Trump.

“The playbook that Donald Trump is running is the playbook that Rahm Emanuel executed in this city. We didn’t get here because we happened to have a tyrant in the White House. We got here because someone gave the script,” Johnson said.

“The fact that Rahm Emanuel is no longer ambassador to Japan. He’s back to town. Maybe that’s making the mayor nervous. He would do well to give Rahm a call and ask him for help getting the budget under control,” Reilly said.