New Law Allows Chicago Schools to Open With Unbalanced Budget

Gov. Jim Edgar signed a bill Friday allowing Chicago public schools to open next week without a balanced budget, a move meant to give officials more time to ease the fiscal crisis.

“The schools can open on Wednesday,” Edgar said about an hour after the General Assembly adopted the measure.

Edgar’s signature focuses immediate pressure on teachers and the Chicago Board of Education to get the schools open on time Wednesday. Without the waiver, Illinois law prohibits the Chicago school system from operating in the red.

With a $298-million deficit and the start of school less than a week away, officials saw little chance of solving the problem without delaying school for 411,000 students.

Edgar and legislative leaders agreed to waive the balanced-budget requirement until Sept. 12 while they continue working on the problem. School officials and Chicago teachers also are to use that time to negotiate contract concessions.

Some lawmakers say the waiver will produce chaos in the schools because it does not let the school board hire teachers to fill vacancies. But others say the waiver gives enough flexibility to fill those spots temporarily.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a statement he was disappointed that lawmakers took action that “merely delays the inevitable.”