Last week, during hearings on the Chicago Public Schools 2026 budget, Alderperson Nicholas Sposato offered Chicago Public Schools Interim CEO/Superintendent Macquline King an apology: “Dr. King, I just want to say to you personally, I had you all wrong. I was 100 percent wrong about you, and you’ve been a pleasant surprise to me.”

King surprised Sposato and many others by presenting a 2026 budget that made paying $175 million to the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, or MEABF, contingent on receiving more money from the city, the state, or both. The school board will vote on the budget on August 28, one day before state law requires they have a balanced budget in place. Previous Chicago school boards have approved budgets without question, but this year, board appro

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