Dive Brief:

• Chicago Public Schools are currently deeply in debt, and a round of 200 layoffs of administrative school staff and the closure of an additional 180 vacant positions are expected to save the district $45.1 million annually.
• According to the district, just 57 soon-to-be dismissed workers will be eligible to reapply for 35 jobs.
• Since August, Yahoo News reports, the district has eliminated 433 jobs in total, the majority of which were central office positions.

Dive Insight:

In addition to the $1.1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools are grappling with a variety of issues. Among them, the guilty plea of former CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett to receiving kickbacks on multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts and an ongoing federal investigation.

Statewide, the general budget has been called a "slow-motion mess."

This week, a new proposal was announced by Illinois Republicans. The plan would enable state control over Chicago Public Schools, enable the district to file for bankruptcy, and hold school board elections.

But state takeovers have had mixed results. Michigan's Education Achievement Authority district in Detroit and New Jersey's takeover of Newark have both been roundly criticized for failing to achieve promised school turnarounds.