* Last month…

Illinois education officials are proposing an increase of $350 million in funding for local school districts next year, an amount that falls short of expectations and deals an initial blow to Chicago Public Schools’ efforts to address an impending budget crisis. […]

“Good luck with the state making that case to Chicago legislators” that $350 million is enough, [CTU President Stacy Davis Gates ] said.

“This idea that they are going to get out of this session without acknowledging the obvious about Chicago, I think that’s ridiculous,” she said.

* Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sat down with WBEZ and talked about state school funding…

If you can’t convince Springfield to pony up more money, what is your backup plan?

It’s not like we’re asking for anything radical. We’re talking about social workers, counselors, class sizes that are manageable. We’re talking about full wraparound services for treatment for families who are experiencing the degree of trauma that exist in this city. We’re also challenging the state of Illinois to recognize that as our English-language learners population grows, that there’s support there, that individuals with disabilities, that those families have real accessibility within our public school system. Anything short of ensuring that Chicago Public Schools has everything that it deserves and needs is not acceptable.

But you don’t control Springfield. What is your backup plan?

To defund public education is a bad idea. That’s what it comes down to. Either we’re going to defund the school district or we’re going to fund it. Those are our two choices. For too long, politicians have come up with excuse after excuse of why we cannot fund public education. Public neighborhood schools were demonized. And where has it gotten us? We have vacancies, closures. We have population loss. There are people’s lives at stake.

You are demanding more money from Springfield, but isn’t there more you can do to run Chicago Public Schools more efficiently? The school district has some very small schools that some will say are inefficient.

We need to address it in a way that holds the community harmless. Now, are there bureaucratic structures that create a great deal of bottleneck? Of course. And is that something that the Board of Education in my administration would have to look closer at? Absolutely. But whether you are in a small school setting, or you are in a larger school setting, families still deserve a social worker and a counselor. The key is to make sure that the dollars reach the families … and it has to reach the families in a very meaningful way.

*** UPDATE *** Asked if the CTU or the mayor had made any formal ask of the governor for increased school aid, spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh had a one-word response…

No

Keep in mind that the governor’s budget address will be delivered 12 days from now.

This is all performative, or amateur hour, or both.