The current situation surrounding CPS is like an overflowing gallon of gasoline near a box of matches: waiting to explode.

CPS and Illinois are still without a budget.

CPS CEO Forrest Claypool announced on Feb. 3 $100 million in new budget cuts that could include teacher layoffs.

While the state has decided to part ways with the ACT to form a pact with the SAT, CPS has decided to pay out of pocket to administer the ACT to its juniors this spring.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the ACT was administered to 150,000 juniors last March. In November 2015, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) voted to make the switch from the ACT to the SAT.

Dr. Janice Jackson, Chief Education Officer of CPS, has first hand knowledge of the ACT. Dr. Jackson formerly served on the Illinois ACT Council, was a former principal of George Westinghouse High School, and was the Chief of Schools for Network 9.

“I have been a high school principal for a long time and I know in most high schools, the curriculum is designed around the ACT, so that switch has thrown a lot of people for a loop,” Dr. Jackson said.

As for why the SAT was chosen over the ACT, Dr. Jackson said that the newly designed SAT is more aligned to Common Core.

According to Assistant Principal Ms. Edwina Thompson, the SAT was redesigned for the 2016 school year.

“In the past, students were penalized for guessing the wrong answer,” Thompson said. “In the past students had to do analogies, the essay was much different, the reading was much different. Now with the new SAT, it is actually more closely related to the ACT. The reading section is a little longer because students have to read and analyze. It is very similar to several AP exams.”

When the ISBE announced the new college entrance exam would be the SAT, the ACT protested the change.

“ACT was obviously not happy about the switch. They have filed for an appeal so the state is still in flux and still trying to figure out what they are going to mandate, but regardless of that, the district has decided to offer a free ACT again,” Dr. Jackson said.

In an email to the Warrior, Amanda Simhauser, a spokeswoman for the ISBE, said that the state has yet to decide which college entrance exam they will administer.

Despite the state decision being in limbo, Dr. Jackson said that CPS high schools will be taking the ACT this school year.

“Juniors expected to take the ACT. And a switch just would have been too disruptive and for that reason alone we are offering the ACT this school year. Chicago Public School students will take it on May 3rd and the district is paying for it,” Dr. Jackson said.

Dr. Jackson stressed that the district paying for the ACT is a priority for CPS. Because of the ongoing budget crisis happening on the state level, CPS is not receiving any funds from Illinois to help pay for the exam.

“I think it’s a big deal because of our budget crisis, but it’s a lot of money — it’s almost a million dollars to administer the exam — so the district making that type of investment really shows we value ACT because of the continuity,” Dr. Jackson said.

CPS had to scrape together money from other resources, she said. There was some extra money in one testing line, the NWEA.

“We really just went back and did what you do when you are strapped for cash and we looked at other budget lines, we looked at expenditures that were upcoming and we had to sweep those lines in order to make good on paying for the [ACT],” she said.

Last school year the ACT was held on March 3. This year the date was set for May 3, an exact two month difference. Dr. Jackson pointed out that last year’s date was too soon, and teachers and students missed out on an extra six weeks to prepare.

“This year the reason we chose May 3rd — which is a later date that CPS would have even wanted — is because we made the decision late. We were waiting for the state to act and once we saw that that wasn’t being finalized we had to act,” Dr. Jackson said.

Usually the ACT is a non-attendance day for students, granted by the state, according to Thompson. However, because CPS is administering the exam, and not the state of Illinois, the district is still waiting for approval to make May 3 a non-attendance day for non-juniors.

“We’re still trying to work out what the actual schedule will be. We work with the College Board because of the AP exams on that day. We are trying to make sure that our students have enough time if they still have to take the AP exams that day,” Thompson said.

Thompson oversees Explore/PLAN/ACT testing at Lane. The AP Physics and AP Spanish Language exams are scheduled for May 3, the same day as the ACT. Thompson said if students in those AP classes miss the exam because of the ACT, they still have to retake it.

Now that it is finalized which college entrance exam students will take, Thompson said the first ACT test prep session will start Feb. 15 and run until March 11. The second session will start March 21 and end April 15.

Students will have to pay a fee of $35 and they will receive an ACT prep book. As in the past, students can chose to take the prep class before or after school. And to make it easier for students, Lane has added lunch sessions.

“They can bring a lunch — they can eat their lunch and get their ACT prep all at once so they don’t have to stay after school or come before,” Thompson said.

As for the importance of CPS high schools covering the cost of the ACT, Thompson believes it is beneficial for all students.

“We want to make sure all CPS juniors have a college entrance exam that they can submit to colleges and universities. Having an exam that they can take for free — to submit to colleges, to provide an equal playing field for all students, to have a fair chance at entering college — makes sense,” Thompson said.