>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

I'm Nick Blumberg.

Brandis Friedman has the evening off.

Here's what we're looking at.

Chicago.

Public schools is facing cuts and a spending freeze to address a massive budget shortfall.

2 school board members weigh in on the district's proposal.

And 2 congressional candidates are removed from November's ballot.

They join us tonight to share their reactions and what they plan on doing next.

>> First off tonight, Governor JB Pritzker says he's outraged by harassment allegations against former State Representative Harry Benton and says lawmakers including the Illinois House speaker, must be held to high standards.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch is office knew of the allegations against Benton by a former staffer years ago.

It also detailed social media interactions with Welsh that left a staffer uncomfortable with speaker reportedly responding to several of her Instagram stories with emojis featuring heart eyes or eyes and mouth wide open.

Pritzker says he's not privy to the meetings Welch has been having with members of his caucus with that.

The public deserves answers on Benton's and Welch's actions.

The speaker.

>> Has a responsibility to be utterly and completely transparent about the situation to make sure that he is letting the public know as well as particular, his members know exactly what happened.

And to the extent that he made mistakes to own up to those mistakes.

>> A Chicago man faces a dozen felony charges after an alleged standoff earlier this week that left a woman and a SWAT officer injured.

Chicago police say Daniel Year a shot and critically wounded.

A 67 year-old woman in an Albany Park home on Monday before holding a 14 year-old girl.

And 42 year-old woman hostage Gary allegedly shot at a Chicago police SWAT team that arrived on the scene.

The woman who was shot was hospitalized in critical condition.

The officer was taken into surgery and is expected to fully recover.

Meanwhile, more Chicagoans think violent crime is on the rise, even though the number of shootings and homicides this year are essentially the same as 2025 which saw the fewest recorded killings in 60 years.

That's according to the Chicago speaks initiative from the nonpartisan research group Norc at the University of Chicago found 44% of residents think violence has increased.

38% say levels are steady and 18% think it's decreased.

The study also found that perceptions of crime levels in the city are closely tied to more frequently consuming crime related content on social media.

And it found that Republicans and independents were far likelier than Democrats to say violent crime is on the rise.

We've got more about the poll results on our website.

Up next, we talk with Chicago school board members about the district's budget proposal.

That's right after this.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part by the Alexander and John Nichols family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> Chicago public schools is facing a 732 million dollar budget shortfall and possibly hundreds of layoffs for teachers and school support staff last week, CPS CEO Macklin King unveiled a nearly 10 billion dollar budget proposal that would rely on 200 million dollars in tax increment financing from the city and 5 unpaid furlough days to help close the Gap.

King calls the plan, thoughtful, responsible and entirely student-centered.

But the Chicago teachers union says the plan is dead on arrival.

It's calling for more funding from the state instead.

Joining us to discuss the budget are Jennifer Custer, CPS board member representing District One B, which includes neighborhoods like North Center and Lincoln Square.

Angie to Brown CPS board member representing District 5, a which includes neighborhoods like Austin and Ukrainian Village.

Thank you both for being here.

We appreciate thank happened.

So obviously a lot of specifics in this budget which will delve into, but just to begin with, can you kind of briefly give me your reaction to the proposal that just came out Jennifer Custer, if I can start with Sure.

I mean, I think everyone on the board can agree.

It's not a perfect budget right?

>> And it doesn't address some of the other bigger problems and certainly the cuts and layoffs or something that I don't think any of us are very happy about.

>> But we do have to consider where we are financially where we are with enrollment in the district and some of these other things to do the best and most responsible budgeting that we can at this moment and she to Brown.

What was your initial initial reaction to this proposal?

>> I agree that that this is a tough fiscal crisis.

Also believe there are ways to get a balanced budget without.

Slashing teachers without slashing a lunchroom workers without slashing teacher aides to a district that has already been wounded by those types of policies.

There's belief that this or what was to us is that budget has been very student Senate.

But I've talked to schools in my district and they had their massive layoffs, for example, Westinghouse High School has has has 15 layoffs by.

There's no way they can have a negative impact on students.

So Jennifer Custer, the board has until late August to pass a budget.

>> But you wrote in a recent Tribune op-ed that failing to pass a spending plan by the end of this month would represent a financial calamity.

Why do you think that's the case yet?

We have to pass this budget by July.

30th in order for the district to go over to the banks.

>> Get all their legal paperwork and financial paperwork in order so that we can take out more tans.

We are having some issues with our short term cash flow because the county hasn't delivered some of that money to us.

And we really need that to keep our doors open and continue to operate starting August 24th.

So we do have to get this done in a timely fashion.

that the district has enough time to get that in order to get that cash flowing in so that we can open and operate at the start of the school How about that you to ground?

think there is that sense of urgency there to get this done?

That's what being told.

>> We also understand that there may be other options to take out different types of loans.

They can get us.

>> A little more time to make sure that able 2 look at other options like a special session by by the state of Illinois.

I think it's important to note that this crisis.

He's a manufactured crisis.

It is a crisis that is that has happened because of the structural deficit that political leaders have not had.

The courage to address.

And so our children supposed to be the ones who actually pay for that.

I think it's very important that to note that you have states like California where almost 50 little bit of a 50% of the school's local school, but a school's budget are covered by state by the state and Chicago with far below that.

It's also important remember that the decades 3 decades, Chicago, Illinois, despite she have an international city and its MS 49th in education funding.

So there's generational harm that's been done right June so it is time for the state to do some get right.

But in the noise so how about that idea of a special session, Jennifer custody under, you know, the state's own evidence-based funding formula.

>> You know, the state is not providing it sort of the full freight to CPS, although it says it's ramping up.

But what do you make of of the calls from some of your colleagues and other folks for a special session?

Yeah, I they're right.

There's not enough money in the evidence.

Base funding formula were not getting everything that we should be getting from the state and >> it has taken them far longer, too, to get to where they need to and the goals that they had set.

But I think one of the things that we are not understanding is that even if a special special session were called and even if there were other progressive revenue solutions, those wouldn't be realized in this budget to help us in the crisis that we're in now, they wouldn't show up until even next year.

And we also don't know how the state will appropriate any of that money to us as it goes through the appropriations process.

So we don't know how much we will really get to the district.

How much will go to other services around the state, transportation and things like that.

So it's really important, I think to understand that just because we call a special session and we pushed for these things doesn't actually mean that any of that money will come to our door or as much money as we anticipated will come to our door through appropriations to around and say shaking your head there for some that.

>> You I respect my and you know, I'm just cut from different cloth.

I believe that was needed to make changes time space and will just because they tell us this is what it Does not mean.

That's what it is.

They told us we couldn't pass progressive revenue this session and we passed a digital ads.

Tax which is providing much more than was anticipated.

Another option could pushing the state to make sure that is an amount earmarked for education and that money is available this year.

So I it's debatable whether the money will be available coming from the state this year.

I think there are ways to make that happen.

We've seen things like that happen before and also believe that there there's an existing revenue source that has just been one where money could be for education from the digital at.

Jennifer Custer.

In a statement last week, Chicago teachers union president Stacy Davis, Gates.

>> Said this proposed spending plan is dead on arrival, citing among other things, the layoffs in the furloughs.

What's your reaction to the seat whose opposition to this budget?

>> I just don't think that's collaboration.

I think we've heard President Davis Gates come and say to people all the time come to the table.

Come with us.

Come do this.

But I don't think that she's reciprocating.

That notion on this budget.

I think, you know, Doctor King said this in her interview.

This is a budget with a shared sacrifice.

It's not just one entity that is seeing these cuts.

It's everybody and they're sharing that sacrifice across the district.

And I think when you lead, you have to show our families and our students that you are willing to collaborate and have conversations.

We do have to protect.

Our district as well.

We do have to make decisions that are best for the district best for the students of the district moving forward.

And that means we need everybody at the table that's actually going to collaborate.

And if you just come in and say now we're not going to do this.

This is dead on arrival.

We're not gonna be part of the conversation.

It's not true collaboration and we're not really working together.

How about that CTU acting as a as a collaborator here?

I'm curious what your reaction I believe that the Chicago teachers union has attempted to meet with the district, has attempted to sit down with the district >> repeatedly, I didn't go our way back to the mayday controversy right in there and that there were efforts to sit down with the district.

I think we have to do a better job as a district.

Of actually knowing and understanding how to be in coalition.

I think it and I look at it like this.

My job is not to protect the shield right?

I I was elected to represent the people.

They live on the west side of Chicago.

And so my loyalty is there.

And so I think, yes, we we have to make decisions that it that they keep the district solvent.

But also it's important note that that.

Chicago public schools, we could have been working in harmony with the city of Chicago.

The the labor unions, community-based organizations since the beginning of this year.

To prep some to call for the Progressive Revenue Solutions and to start calling for that.

Now.

Unfortunately, as a district we get on board, we just passed a legislative agenda right?

So we do move.

We have to understand we don't move like we understand how to be a coalition.

so I think that's a and it's a can.

That's that is a constructive criticism.

It's very I do not believe that the Chicago teachers union should be demonized in this moment.

And while most of time.

But I want to ask you both, you know, obviously the pressure is on, you know, to close the 700 million dollar cap for the upcoming budget.

>> But CPS, as you both mentioned, as long-term structural challenges.

Jennifer Casteel, start with you.

What do you think needs to happen to put CPS on a more long-term stable footing?

I think we need to take a look at our real fiscal situation.

And I think we have to live within our means.

>> The reality is that our district and many districts across the country, our our funded based on local funds and not necessarily heavily on state funds and federal funds.

And so we have a finite amount of money that we can use and that we can build with.

And we have to live within our means and start talking about what is the return on some of the investments that we've made.

What are some of the programs that we're doing?

How are they operating?

And we need to have some serious conversations about what that looks like moving forward to to >> Respectfully.

What my colleague just said.

Is the language of school closings.

It's the language of consolidations and and 88% of the children impacted by school closings.

A black children.

That is absolutely not a that just double for me.

If I understand correctly, there's some get right needs to be done with communities that have suffered from they have suffered from decades of disinvestment.

So.

A school that's under utilized.

I'm using quotation marks.

It's actually an opportunity.

The finding to give black children smaller class size to finally give black and brown children services in schools that can actually meet the needs like the food, a clinic that Cedric Elementary School.

So I don't believe in the notion of right-sizing the district that is a private eyes.

As mine said.

And that is how we should be representing the families and the children of the city of Chicago.

All right.

Very complicated topic.

both sharing your insights.

Jennifer Custer due to ground.

Thank you very Thanks for having Thank you.

>> Up next to congressional candidates kicked off November's ballot, share their reactions.

>> Education reporting on Chicago tonight is brought to you in part by press forward.

Chicago.

>> Another turn in the race to replace longtime congressman has Seuss to Garcia after his last-minute retirement announcement cleared a path for his chief of staff to secure the Democratic nomination unopposed this week, the state Board of Elections determined that independent candidates, Byron Sigcho Lopez and Myra ACS failed to collect enough valid petition signatures to make the November ballot leaving.

For now Democrat Patty Garcia, Republican looping Castillo and independent Chris Getty.

As the remaining candidates joining us to discuss the race, our Myra messiest, former executive director of the Latino Victory Fund and 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez who represents communities including Pilsen and Little Village.

Thank you for joining us.

We appreciate it.

Thank you for having So you both submitted the maximum number of signatures allowed a little over 17,000 but the state elections board ruled unanimously both fell short by more than 1000 valid signatures.

Meyer Muncy is the second start with you.

What was your reaction to that decision?

You know, yesterday's decision was such a loss to democracy into the over 30,000 voters who were supporting the aldermen or myself.

>> So I felt disappointment but also frustration because there's so many people who want to see options in November.

And they're they're losing out on utterance until up is how did you feel about that decision?

>> Well, not only a tiny 5 as any and father is a little facial.

Democracy died yesterday 4th congressional district.

There was a there were 30,000 plus voters school to serve to democracy, not control a position.

There is a big difference.

And when we see our families being CIA's like animals, that squats coming in and killing parents, I think that they took away toward right?

2 Tucson representatives or some determination was taking away and it takes away the spirit of democracy.

I mean, people we registered, hundreds of people to vote young people and our community deserves better than what terrible way for Congressman Garcia.

About a year had to leave, especially want to continue to see the lies that these was not premeditated, that these was every single excuse that we hear.

I want to say that we don't the support of the people when between the Democrats and Republicans to collect the Boerne over 1000 petitions we collect on a 30,000 that tells you a lot about the issue of democracy that we have in the state of Illinois today.

And your fellow independent candidate, Chris, get these petitions were in challenge to Mira why do you think your son, the alderman's were?

Well, it's very clear that Patty doesn't think she can win this election about box.

>> And instead, rather spend resources litigating in courtrooms.

I it's not a coincidence that 2 Latino candidates in the most Latino district in the state of Illinois were kicked off.

think it's very obvious why the alderman and myself were kicked off.

Even you both said you're exploring legal options other Sigcho Lopez.

Do you know yet on what grounds you might fall file suit?

>> Well, it is clear access to the ballot Illinois where we have a majority Democratic, just leadership in the Senate and House governor's office.

It is clear that we do not have a democratic process.

That is fair, equitable.

And and transparent right.

And I think that this is a moment when we need people that we can trust that we know one fighting for working people we can fight for working people and say that we we have to fight with the market when we're doing these tactics, right?

I do think is the moment where we need changes.

We're going to find the federal level and also challenge just a loss to make sure that every person I mean, these is and these are right to self-govern.

It was taken away from Latino representing the team Aniston or presented And are simply to benefit status quo and broken system that needs to change.

I would make sure to do so.

Yeah, I want to come back to that.

That question of, you know, changing state law potentially.

>> But I want to get to a statement from Petty Garcia's campaign provided to Wt Tw News.

She said that many of your in the alderman's petition signatures were, quote, fraudulent and not valid.

It continues.

Petition review is a normal part of the Democratic process and the Board of Elections made the right decision based on the law.

Myra, see us.

Your reaction to Well, I think it is very convenient to abide by by the law when >> it benefits you.

Speaking of the law, it's also against the law to use congressional staffers during work hours to try to kick off candidates from the ballot.

And so I actually filed an ethics complaint with the House of Representatives Office of Ethics, because I think that if we're going to talk about rules and laws and we should uphold them equally, not just when it behooves a candidate.

>> Which we should mention the congressman and his staff have denied those claims.

But yes, certainly there were, you know, folks tied to that office involved in the challenge effort, would you consider running as a write-in candidate?

>> I think at this moment I ready to explore various options.

What is fundamental to me is that.

We are centering working people because there's so many people that I met across this campaign who want change, who are hungry.

4.

And Ted Kerr up politicians.

They want people who actually use government as a lever for change.

And so I'm talking to folks to see what is the best way to continue doing that work because with or without a title, my my my goal and my commitment to my community was to serve.

So we'll continue considering options and Q, including legal options.

Alderman have even thought to potentially a write-in bid yet.

>> Were we were still talking about the legal options and also the next steps.

But I'll tell you, as a as an immigrant father coursing Hodge so having keel.

But that's squats.

I don't feel that state is doing enough to protect communities.

I think community to serve it serves better.

I would say the party or see is a fraud.

And I think that fraud.

We'll never be an option to what we've seen.

A country to fascism, Trump, all 3 I don't think that anybody fuel saving state.

I don't think we're doing enough.

And these certainly is adding insult to injury to residents, to people our community who of the right any other community.

There were 5 open seats in this election.

We were the only one that did not have the Democratic election raked March right November.

And I want to get to the question of the signature barriers.

Independence need nearly 11,000 valid signatures, a Democratic nominee such as petty Garcia.

>> 697.

You've called on state legislators to consider changing that law.

So independents don't face such a high barrier as some supporters of the status quo say, you know, major party candidates, maybe it's not a lot to get on the ballot, but they have to demonstrate support through a primary election.

What's your reaction to that argument?

I would also add that be on the inordinate amount of signatures that independent candidates have to get.

There is a cap on how many signatures were able to submit because when we decided to run one, I decided to run.

I was told this was impossible.

But we got the maximum allowed.

>> And if we have been able to get 20,000 we would have submitted the 20,000.

But you have a cap of 17,304 which doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room.

>> Yeah.

So even with you know, the question of, you know, gathering all that all that support their right.

There's a limit that's that's placed correct.

You know what I want to ask?

You know, obviously, this is, you know, not a fight either of you is giving up on yet.

You know, whether it's a write-in bid, whether it's a legal challenge, but hypothetically, should you not end up on the ballot are running as a write-in.

What would you encourage 4th district voters to do come November?

Alderman.

>> We'll encourage them to make sure that they see that there money coming into race.

I think important that we condemn and reject a PAC money that we can then super PAC money also that voters have to see what kind of it's and think what we see they continue gaslighting line.

I mean, it goes you that these was an election that needed to be done by the voters on Friday.

Midday days before Congress member theres he was only person who knew about What does it about someone who hides information from the public?

We need to scrutinize these candidates know what they It.

Garcia also told when I was collecting petitions that she was going to allowed in an election in November.

She didn't do it.

So that what this saying about say one thing but do another nuke of the money.

Look at the actions.

We will continue.

Organizing.

We want to make sure that the the residents talk about the issues of wars of shoes of working people.

We need to stop the genocide.

We need to stop the madness in our country and it's as organized.

Myron see us about 30 seconds left.

What might your message to voters be?

You know, things don't shake out.

People need to remember that they have the power.

>> This goes beyond a political candidate campaign or party.

They have the power November 3rd and they need to exercise their right to vote.

Whether they want to write in a candidate or not.

They need to use your vote because this is why we're in this situation.

>> All right.

Well, we will certainly be very interested to see how this all plays out.

Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, Myron see us.

Thank you both for sharing your thoughts.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

And that's our show for this Wednesday night.

Stay connected with our reporters and what they're working on by following us on Instagram at W T Tw Chicago.

Join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

The WNBA All-Star game comes to Chicago this weekend.

A look at what fans can expect.

Now for all of us here at Chicago tonight.

I'm Nick Blumberg.

Thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good night.

>> Closed captioning is made possible by Robert a cliff and Clifford law offices, a personal injury law firm, working to preserve the