Chicago Public Schools has to pay $669 million to the teachers' pension fund by today, and after that it's not clear how much the district will have left in its budget for day-to-day expenses, the Chicago Tribune reported. CPS has warned investors and aldermen since the beginning of the year that the pension payment will leave the district with a barrel-scraping $24 million — enough cash to cover less than two days of business. But CPS said on Tuesday that its short-term cash picture "modestly improved" after a series of cost-cutting measures in the last school year that included unpaid furlough days and sharp reductions in per-pupil spending. The district, which has threatened drastic cuts in the coming school year without state intervention, said that it would issue a preliminary update to its cash position after making the pension payment today. With its fiscal year ending on the same day the pension payment is due and without a proposed budget for the coming year, CPS will have to get through July with the borrowed money it has on hand until it receives roughly $1.1 billion in property tax revenue due by August.
