Chicago Public Schools students head back to school Monday
CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's back to school Monday for the hundreds of thousands of students in Chicago Public Schools.
Mayor Brandon Johnson will greet children and staff at several schools as they start the day.
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CPS CEO Macquline King and Mayor Brandon Johnson will visit several schools Monday morning to celebrate students' first day back to the classroom.
As more than 340,000 students return to school, there's both excitement and uncertainty over Chicago Public Schools funding and the chance of layoffs during the school year.
The CPS Board is banking on $150 million from the state even though that funding has not yet been secured.
Several back-to-school events helped fill students' backpacks of school supplies and some got fresh haircuts so they felt confident on their first day.
"I'm most excited about meeting new friends and learning something new," student Calvin Burnett said.
"Well I am excited for school... and I'm excited to see my friends," 5th grade student Cyrus Allen said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, a CPS parent himself, said he'll be dropping off his children Monday, a 7th grader and a 9th grader, plus his eldest, a freshman in college at Eastern Illinois.
He said the state can do better by helping fund CPS and tax the rich if needed, to do so.
"What I want for my family is what I want for every single family across the city," Mayor Johnson said. "So we're gonna continue to put our arms around students and make sure teacher have resources that they need, because we cannot go back to a time of school closures...we're gonna continue to work with the state of Illinois to make sure we're funding out schools."
The mayor and CPS leaders will start the day at George Leland Elementary.
Then, head to Roswell B. Mason Elementary and Madero Middle School afterwards.
