Cindi Camacho has spent nearly a decade at ASPIRA Business & Finance High School, first as a classroom assistant and later a bilingual teacher. In her newcomer students’ faces, she sees fragments of her own family’s story. Her parents came to the U.S. as teenagers.
“It has been a labor of love for me, because I’m a daughter of immigrants,” Camacho said of the majority-Latino school in Avondale. “It would be devastating for us not to see our seniors graduate or walk the stage.”
The charter network ASPIRA has announced it is facing a $4.8 million deficit, and could be forced to shutter its three schools as soon as next month. More than 570 students and dozens of staff are in limbo, awaiting answers and bracing for a possible sudden closure.
A midyear closure would be unprecedented within Chicago Public Schools. ASPIRA operates two high schools on the Northwest Side — ASPIRA Business & Finance High School and ASPIRA Early College High School — as well as a small alternative school that re-enrolls dropouts.
In an interview with the Tribune, ASPIRA CEO Edgar Lopez cited declining enrollment and rising labor costs as factors driving the network’s financial crisis. But he said ASPIRA is still in talks with the district, and expressed cautious optimism that the schools will stay open.
“I feel we are,” Lopez said. “But would I put my life to it? No, because CPS, sometimes you don’t know where they’re coming from.”
Since November, the district has provided four advances to ASPIRA totaling $2.5 million to make payroll, according to CPS. But Board of Education members appear reluctant to allocate additional funding, instead calling for greater transparency and accountability from the operator.
Charters receive funding based on enrollment, and are overseen and authorized by CPS. However, they operate as separate nonprofits with independent boards that oversee day-to-day operations.
ASPIRA’s financial crisis is the latest within Chicago’s charter sector. In November, the district allocated $1.4 million to keep EPIC Academy in South Chicago open through the school year. In 2024, after months of outcry, the board voted to absorb five of seven schools in the Acero network slated for closure — costing CPS at least $30 million this fiscal year.
As enrollment plunges across Chicago, the cash-strapped district faces a choice: Should it continue rescuing financially distressed charters, or should it double down on its commitment to invest in neighborhood schools? Is it practical and feasible to do both?
Staff have received little communication from ASPIRA leadership about the network’s financial troubles, according to Camacho. She said she first learned of her campus’ potential closure from a news article. When students ask about the school’s future, she doesn’t have an answer.
“It’s difficult for me to grasp, but if ASPIRA is unable to finish the school year, the responsible thing for both ASPIRA and CPS to do is to have a contingency plan, and start supporting students in a transition,” Camacho said.
The district “is exploring any and all solutions,” a CPS spokesperson said in a statement. The district did not address questions from the Tribune about whether it plans to allocate additional funding to the network.
“Any updates will be communicated through a transparent, community-centered process to ensure families remain informed and engaged every step of the way,” the spokesperson said.
Chicago’s charter debate
ASPIRA has operated schools in CPS for more than two decades.
Roughly one in five CPS students attends a charter school, or about 55,000 students. Charters proliferated in Chicago in the 2000s under then-Mayor Richard Daley, who championed the model as a vehicle for education reform and expanded school choice. Yet the campaign, dubbed “Renaissance 2010,” also coincided with shrinking birth rates. That has led to declining enrollment across the district.
“When you have a population of students that’s decreasing, then there’s competition for those students. There’s going to be winners and losers among schools,” said Gary Miron, a professor at Western Michigan University who researches charter schools.
This fall, ASPIRA’s two high schools enrolled about 120 fewer students compared to last year, according to district data. That drop has significant fiscal implications: the majority of the network’s revenue comes from per-pupil funding from the district.
What’s more, CPS charter schools already face chronic underfunding. State law requires the district to provide charters with at least 97% of what it spends per student — which, this year, amounts to $19,742. But, in practice, charters operating in independent facilities only receive $17,606 per student after CPS deducts pension and debt costs, according to the district’s budget book.
“If you want to prevent ASPIRA from happening, you’ve got to fix the structural funding inequity that plagues charters,” said Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.
Some charters can supplement that funding with philanthropic support. But for ASPIRA, donor contributions account for only a fraction of revenue.
Both Broy and Lopez, the ASPIRA CEO, also pointed to labor costs as an added source of financial strain on charters.
The network’s 62 unionized staff members, including teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors and social workers, are represented by the Chicago Teachers Union.
“I’ve been telling the union this for a couple years,” Lopez said. “We’re in a deficit. Help us with this. Make some concessions.”
Lopez’s remarks underscore the deepening rift with the union and charter advocates. CTU has been a vocal critic of Chicago’s charter system, arguing in a report last year that the unregulated nature of the model has led to financial mismanagement, school closures and labor violations.
Calls for oversight
District-run schools, meanwhile, are also strapped for cash. Last year, CPS closed a $734 million deficit in a protracted budget fight.
CTU leaders, along with board members aligned with the union, argue that increased transparency and oversight over the charter sector is necessary to protect CPS’ fiscal health. They counter that continued district support for struggling charter campuses strains an already fragile funding model.
“We’re headed towards a real crisis here,” said Jen Conant, the chair of CTU’s charter division. “ASPIRA has failed to be transparent about the situation, repeatedly … They should have seen this coming.”
ASPIRA has been operating at a deficit since its 2023 fiscal year, according to federal tax filings, and enrollment has been ticking down for years. Yet the school board voted to renew the network’s contract for another two-year term last spring.
Two-year renewals, rather than the standard 10-year renewal terms allowed by state law, are intended to tighten fiscal and performance oversight. As part of ASPIRA’s renewal terms, the network is required to submit monthly cash flow statements to the district.
Lopez, the ASPIRA CEO, said he notified the district and staff as soon as he was aware that the network could not cover payroll in the fall. He pushed back against the narrative of financial mismanagement.
“As soon as we were able to disclose it, we did,” he said of the network’s inability to make payroll. “I dare anyone to come look at our books, and tell us where we mismanaged ASPIRA.”
But some school board members, along with many ASPIRA teachers and families, are deeply skeptical. At a meeting earlier this month, members appeared hesitant to float the network additional funding.
“It is so unfair what is happening to our children in the system, and we cannot let operators leave us hanging in this way,” said Ebony DeBerry, who represents 2A on the Far North Side.
Board member Norma Rios-Sierra — who represents District 3A on the Northwest Side, which includes all of the ASPIRA schools — later told the Tribune that the board has received “no real financial clarity” from the operator, making it difficult to justify additional advances.
“This is like a burning building, right? You don’t wait for the building to burn down. You move people to safety immediately,” Rios-Sierra said. “We have to move in a way that prioritizes our families.”
The 570 ASPIRA students are zoned for several CPS high schools across the Northwest Side, according to district data. Reassigning that many students in the middle of the academic year, however, could pose significant logistical challenges to the district.
“If these schools close, there’s no plan in place,” Conant said. “Students might end up dropping out. They may not transfer this year … There aren’t any systems in place to transfer a large number of students like that.”
An uncertain future
Diana Robles, a bilingual history teacher, said questions have been swirling in classrooms at ASPIRA Early College High School. Would students’ credits transfer? Would teachers be able to follow their students?
“It’s heartbreaking to realize that this little community we built with them is breaking up,” said Robles, who has taught at the school for 13 years.
On a recent afternoon, a sea of uniformed students poured out of the glass doors of ASPIRA Business & Finance High School and onto Milwaukee Avenue.
Fifteen-year-old Maryfer Alacantara wore a royal blue bow to match her uniform, with her long hair tied up in a ponytail. She chatted with her friend before gazing up at the glass school building.
“It’s sad, honestly,” Alacantara said. “If the school closes in the middle of March, that’s not what we want.”
The sophomore has been discussing possible transfer options with her parents. But she says she feels “stuck in the middle” — unsure whether the school will close, and still clinging to hope.
“We just need more information,” Alacantara said. “It would be challenging and stressful for us to transfer.”
Despite the network’s financial turmoil, on Thursday, the school hosted an open house for prospective families.