Chicago Teachers Union demands 10X boost in mediocre school model

Chicago Public Schools’ 20 ‘sustainable community schools’ perform worse on average than other Chicago public schools in reading and math, absenteeism, graduation rates and more. The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding 180 more of the failing schools.

There’s a type of school severely underperforming other schools within Chicago Public Schools: sustainable community schools. Then there’s another school model outperforming other CPS schools: selective enrollment schools.

Guess which one is favored by the Chicago Teachers Union leadership in a leaked document of their contract demands? Surprise (or not): CTU is demanding 180 more of the underperforming sustainable community schools.

Students at sustainable community schools in CPS are performing far worse than students in selective enrollment schools and other traditional public schools in the city.

On average, only 13% of sustainable community school students in third through eighth grade read at grade level and only 4% in 11th grade. But 63% of third- through eighth- and 11th-grade selective enrollment students read at grade level.

It is illogical for CTU to demand 180 more of these failing schools in its 2024 contract negotiations. Additionally, 90% of CPS’ current 20 sustainable community schools are underutilized and half are less than half full.

It’s important Chicago parents and taxpayers understand the poor outcomes for students if CTU’s preferred model spreads and CTU succeeds in diminishing or eliminating other traditional public schools.

Sustainable community schools are failing students

A close examination of data gathered from the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools shows sustainable community schools lag selective enrollment schools and other traditional Chicago public schools by many measures.

Students at sustainable community schools on average have the lowest reading and math proficiency, highest absenteeism, highest high school dropout rate, lowest graduation rate and lowest postsecondary enrollment rate compared to the average of students at selective enrollment schools and other traditional public schools. And 90% of sustainable community schools are currently under-enrolled. Yet the district is paying more per student at these failing schools.

Proficiency

The state assesses Illinois students for proficiency in the core subjects of reading and math on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in the spring of their third- through eighth-grade school years and on the SAT in the spring of their 11th-grade school year.

CPS students at sustainable community schools averaged far worse proficiency rates on the spring 2023 elementary and high school tests compared to students enrolled in selective enrollment schooling and other traditional public schools.

The average proficiency rate for sustainable community school students on the IAR was under 13% in reading and 5% in math. For 11th grade sustainable community school students, the proficiency rate averaged about 4% in reading and 2% in math on the SAT.

The IAR proficiency rate for students in selective enrollment schooling averaged 63% in reading and 53% in math. On the SAT, the average proficiency rate was 63% in reading and 58% in math.

Students at sustainable community schools also averaged lower reading and math proficiency rates than students in CPS’ other traditional public schools. The average IAR proficiency rate in other CPS schools was 22% for reading and 14% for math. The average SAT reading proficiency rate was 11% and 8% for math.

Absenteeism

CTU claims one of the benefits of sustainable community schools is decreased absenteeism rates, but the data shows that’s wrong.

ISBE maintains data on chronic absenteeism, which measures the percentage of students missing 10% or more school days during an academic year. A 2016 ISBE report on school attendance framed the effect of missed school days on students, reporting, “Chronic rates of absence and truancy portend prospects that provide less of a transition [from school to career as a functioning and productive member of society] but rather an eventual erosion of choices, possibilities and hope.”

This erosion of choices, possibilities and hope because of high rates of chronic absenteeism threatens students at CPS’ sustainable community schools, where on average more than half of students are chronically absent. Average chronic absenteeism rates are much higher at sustainable community schools compared to selective enrollment or other traditional CPS schools.

The average chronic absenteeism rate across CPS’ 20 sustainable community schools is double the average rate across CPS’ 36 selective enrollment schools. The average chronic absenteeism rate at sustainable community schools in Chicago is 53% compared to 26% at selective enrollment schools. The average at CPS’ other traditional public schools is 39%.

Spending

CPS is spending more to get worse results with the sustainable community school model.

ISBE maintains annual data reporting the site-level expenditures per pupil at each school in Illinois. Those include salaries, benefits, related costs and any non-personnel costs assigned exclusively to a school, as well as the school’s allocation of dollars spent for district centralized services that benefit the school.

Average per-pupil, site-level expenditures are higher in CPS’ sustainable community schools than selective enrollment or other traditional public schools.

On average, CPS’ sustainable community schools spend nearly $4,500 more per pupil compared to selective enrollment schools and nearly $2,000 more than CPS’ other traditional public schools. This higher spending per pupil yields lower average reading and math proficiency.

Graduation, high school dropout and postsecondary enrollment rates

Enrollment at a sustainable community school doesn’t bode well for students’ prospects.

On average, high school students in Chicago’s sustainable community schools are graduating and enrolling in post-secondary college or trade schools at a lower rate and dropping out of high school at a higher rate compared to students at selective enrollment and other traditional public schools.

The average four-year graduation rate at CPS’ eight sustainable community high schools is 69% while the rate is 93% for students at Chicago’s 11 selective enrollment high schools. The average high school dropout rate is 6% at the sustainable community high schools compared to 2% at selective enrollment high schools.

On average, less than half of students at sustainable community high schools enrolled in post-secondary education within 12 months of graduation compared to over three-quarters of selective enrollment high school students.

School capacity

Chicago Public Schools maintains data on the space utilization status for each school,  designating each as either underutilized, efficient or overcrowded, depending on what percentage of the school’s ideal capacity is met by enrolled students.

Sustainable community schools have the highest percentage of schools in CPS designated as underutilized.

Ninety percent of CPS’ 20 sustainable community schools are “underutilized” – or enrolled less than 70% of their ideal capacity in the current school year. Half of the sustainable community schools are less than half full. Yet CTU is pushing to increase the number of these schools by 900% – from 20 to 200 schools.

Only 18% of selective enrollment schools and 59% of other traditional public schools are “underutilized.”

While CTU’s “sustainable community schools” are suffering from under-enrollment, nearly one-fifth of selective enrollment schools are overcrowded. Yet Chicago’s Board of Education, appointed by former CTU organizer Mayor Brandon Johnson, passed a resolution to move away from these highly sought-after selective enrollment schools to focus on sustainable community schools.

Parents and students are voting with their feet: showing dissatisfaction with sustainable community schools and preference for selective enrollment schools. That is clear from community schools being underutilized and selective enrollment schools being overcrowded.

Johnson should remember that during CTU negotiations. Schools that are failing Chicago’s children should not be increased by 900%.