Sendhil Revuluri: CPS Budget Crisis Demands Leadership, Not Slogans

Calls Out Years of "Balanced" Budgets Built on One-Time Fixes

CHICAGO, May 13, 2026 – As Chicago Public Schools faces a $732 million deficit, former CPS Board Vice President and candidate for Board President Sendhil Revuluri issued the following statement: 

“Chicago's kids can't afford another year of leaders’ magical thinking, waiting on money that may never come.

CPS has a $732 million deficit, and it didn't show up overnight. For years, the Board approved ‘balanced’ budgets propped up by one-time fixes that served political interests instead of students. The cliff has been visible. The Board kept its foot on the gas and never turned the wheel.

Chicago doesn’t receive adequate state funding. But ‘Springfield owes us a billion dollars’ isn't a budget. It doesn't pay staff. It doesn't teach a single kid to read. It’s not even effective advocacy. It's a slogan claiming to be a strategy, and it's exactly the finger-pointing that's kept this district stuck.

The Board's job is to level with and listen to families, set priorities, and make the hard calls before they get harder. That work isn't happening, and our kids are paying for it. I'm running for Board President to change that.”