Cool $34 million "surplus" doesn't exist

Whew? The District's CFO published a letter addressed to Chancellor Rhee stating that the $34,000,000 surplus, is, in fact, nonexistent.

It's hard to keep up with all of these developments. Perhaps someone can clarify -- does that mean the budget deficit from the fall was real?

The greater implication is how this will affect the contract proposal (which I finally received yesterday.) For the record, I have not read the proposal yet, so I'm not sure how I will/would vote. (My initial instinct is that I will vote yes, but I'd prefer to 1) read the fine print and 2) not put the cart before the horse.) The looming question is whether or not the District has money to pay for the over 20% raise. While I understand there is private funding attached, I'm more concerned about the sustainability of such an increase in salary as well as benefits if/when the private funding goes away.

I would assume that one would ensure that the money was 100% sured up prior to announcing a proposal of this magnitude. I would also assume that a sustainability plan was created. But in this town, assumptions make an ass out of you and me.