* Sun-Times…

The Chicago Public Schools actually need $596 million to keep schools open the rest of the school year, and not just the $129 million officials have publicly discussed, a top aide to Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday.

The larger figure takes into account delays in receiving block grants from the state, according to Carole Brown, Emanuel’s chief financial officer.

* WBEZ…

A spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said it is unlikely CPS will get that grant money before June 30. The state is six months behind on payments because of the budget impasse in Springfield.

The governor’s office responded with a statement saying that “CPS’ crisis is not due to the budget impasse, it’s due to decades of fiscal mismanagement. Any outstanding payments from the state lie with Comptroller Mendoza, and can be processed when her office chooses.” CPS, though, said the governor’s office only has approved $300 million of the $467 million in payments due to CPS.

* Mendoza’s spokesperson reacts to the governor’s office statement…

“Like the check bouncer who yells at his bank for bouncing a check from an account he himself emptied, the Governor disingenuously blames the Comptroller for not writing checks from state coffers that Governor Rauner emptied by failing his constitutional duty to propose a balanced budget,” Pallasch said.

Mendoza could probably make that CPS grant payment, but only if she does something like temporarily skip at least part of the next state pension payment (comptrollers have done this from time to time - but that money eventually has to be paid). And Downstate and suburban schools would probably be upset if she does because they’re also not getting their grant money. As we discussed last month, Illinois schools are owed about a billion dollars in grant cash because of the impasse.

* CPS’ predicament…

As of Tuesday, the teachers pension fund said CPS owed it about $716 million. The fund said it expects CPS to pay about $470 million of that tab by June 30, with the rest payable after a quarter-billion dollars in revenue arrives later in the summer from a new property tax devoted to teacher pensions.

Burbridge said the pension fund’s outlook changes if the city falls short on its payments for less predictable reasons, such as a lack of state aid.

* It’s so late in the school year that raising taxes wouldn’t bring much money into the CPS coffers. And any cuts made this late would have to be several times larger than they would’ve been had they been made at the start of the fiscal year because there is so little time left…

Other possibilities include: taking a “bridge” loan from tax-increment financing districts that might never be repaid; another round of borrowing; more cuts of school support staff; delayed payments to CPS vendors; and a request to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund to delay part of the $721 million payment that’s due June 30.

A 60-day delay on the pension payment would solve some of the cash-flow issues since tax revenue typically rolls in by August.

* If Mendoza won’t delay state pension payments to help out CPS, then CPS might have to delay its own payment. The ratings agencies will certainly be furious, but the district already has junk bond status…

Brown on Tuesday acknowledged officials have discussed withholding the pension payment as they test ideas with bond rating agencies to see which would do the least additional harm to the district and the city’s already low bond ratings.

“It’s an option that we’ve talked about, but it’s not an option that anybody’s concluded is something that’s viable, or an option that anyone’s concluded is the preferred course of action,” she told the Tribune.

*** UPDATE ***  Sun-Times…

On Wednesday, Emanuel was asked why he waited so long to reveal the magnitude of the problem from aldermen whose support he needs for a financial rescue that could put the city’s own shaky finances at risk.

“The bills kept climbing and growing and, in every aspect, they said they were gonna get current with it. … The state of Illinois is the largest deadbeat in the state of Illinois,” the mayor said.

“We’ve never shied away from doing what we need to do. And we paid our bills on time. … I will meet the challenge. We will work together and work through this issue. [But] it is adding insult to injury not only to be dead last in funding education, but then to be behind on your payments so dramatically that you’re affecting the ability of us to keep moving forward academically.”

After canceling two closed-door briefings with aldermen, Emanuel shed no new light on the rescue plan. He would only reiterate Brown’s statement that “everything is on the table” and that, even another tax increase or reinstating the head tax he proudly eliminated has not been ruled out.