They insisted that all funding options are still on the table.
Interim CPS CEO Macquline King, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and top mayoral officials held meetings at City Hall on Tuesday to strategize together on how to get more education money from Springfield.
But any possible additional funds from the state will not come in time to close this year's huge CPS budget gap, which is close to $1 billion.
"I can tell you that we're still continuing to work on the budget and that all options are on the table. I made that clear since I've joined CPS, and that's to consider all of the expenses that CPS has as a district," King said.
But time is running out. CPS must present a balanced budget to the school board on Wednesday. King admitted on Tuesday that the process has made her anxious.
"It is constant conversations with our teams, looking through our budget, looking through our savings, looking for opportunities to protect critical investment that the district has already made," King said.
Sources say the budget does not include a controversial pension payment that the mayor was hoping CPS would pay for. Sources also say the budget does not include a short-term loan.
Those two options are ones that former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez refused to include, and it cost him his job. But the mayor insists that all options are still being considered, including the pension payment and loan.
"As a former public school teacher, I don't want any cuts in the classroom, but all our options have to be available to the board," Johnson said.
CPS's budget team will present the 21-member school board with its balanced budget on Wednesday morning. The school board must vote on it during its monthly board meeting on Aug. 28. Meanwhile, classes start on Monday.