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Hello!

This is Mila Koumpilova, one of the reporters at Chalkbeat here in Chicago. I hope everyone had a promising start to the new school year yesterday. My colleague Reema Amin followed a South Side family, capturing how uncertainty about the Chicago Public Schools budget tinged the first day excitement.

The fiscal precariousness the district faces was also a theme at the customary first day press conference with the superintendent, mayor and other officials, which this time around took place at Leland Elementary, a STEM school on the West Side. At the event, Mayor Brandon Johnson and others again called for a state millionaires tax to steer more money for public schools, a proposal that so far hasn’t gained enough traction in Springfield.

Whatever comes next, we’re ready to cover another school year in Chicago closely.

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Local News

Chicago’s first day of school brings excitement and concerns about possible budget cuts

Carter, a sixth grader at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School on the South Side, is excited for the new year. So is his mom — but she’s also concerned about whether the school and their teachers will have everything they need.