Mayor Brandon Johnson holds a media availability on the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund contribution from CPS on March 18, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The city’s finance team is recommending that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) engage in short-term borrowing to cover its required contribution to the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF), the pension fund that mostly includes CPS non-teacher employees.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and the leaders of his finance and budget offices participated in a press conference Tuesday to lay out the case for how the school district should come up with the funds to cover the payment and other labor-related costs facing CPS.