At Issue: City Colleges Of Chicago Still Suffering From State's Budget Impasse
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The head of the City Colleges of Chicago says the seven-college system is still suffering the effects of the state's long budget impasse, even though overdue funds are coming in, or expected.
City Colleges Chancellor Juan Salgado said having state budget helps the system's financial position, but the damage of the past two years was already done.
He said enrollments have dropped 18 percent during the two years of the crisis. Salgado said that is because students didn't want to come to schools where they believed they would not get state scholarship grants.
Lower enrollments meet less money for the colleges, so they're still going through with about 120 layoffs, a salary cut for senior leadership and other savings. How do they get students to come back?
"Reaching out human being to human being. We are going out into communities," he said.
City Colleges Chancellor Juan Salgado is the guest on our At Issue program this weekend and you can hear more of his thoughts Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.