Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Forrest Claypool issued the following statement in response to Gov. Rauner’s claim that Chicago would get a special deal on teacher pensions. Chicago taxpayers currently pay for their own teachers’ pensions, along with every other teachers’ pension in the state. Other districts receive state funding for their pensions. “We agree that no one should get a special deal – which is exactly why we should end the raw deal that is hurting Chicago taxpayers, teachers and students. Under current law, Chicago is the only school district in the state that is forced to take dollars out of its classrooms to fund teacher pensions,” Claypool said. “We were encouraged when Springfield took its first step toward fairness, and we don’t believe that mixing labor issues into this bill will help address CPS’ fiscal situation. We want to see a comprehensive solution move forward, and we are eager to work with all our partners, so that our children don’t pay the price of inaction.” Last year, Springfield gave every other district $3.4 billion for pensions. Chicago received $62 million. That means every other student in the state received the equivalent of $2,066 in funding while Chicago students received $157.