|
 Chicago Public Schools’ latest enrollment report shows the city
lost over 6,000 students since 2018, bringing enrollment down to 355,155.
CPS has lost students nearly every year since 2000. Roughly 80,000 students, or
18% of the district’s enrollment, have been lost during that period. Half of
that loss came in the past five years.
School administrators said more enrollments in all-day preschool and
kindergarten has helped make the numbers better than previous years. CPS added
2,800 additional preschoolers this year.
Many of the district’s 642 schools have seen their enrollment numbers drop
significantly during the past 10 school years. CPS estimates there are 150,000
empty seats in its schools. Some have lost between 70% and 90% of their
students. Manley High School in East Garfield Park was using just 7% of its
capacity for only 114 students in fall 2017 compared to 1,221 in fall 2007,
according to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune.
Despite falling numbers, the schools cannot be closed and more taxpayer dollars
are pushed into them. The Chicago Teachers Union’s new contract calls for at
least $627 million in new costs, although CPS has claimed the cost is as high as
$1.5 billion, and will continue the policy that does not allow failing or
near-empty schools to be closed. State law ensures funding will not decrease
even if enrollment declines.
While CTU leaders commonly claim CPS is underfunded by the city and state, that
is simply not the case. CPS students are some of the highest funded public
school students in Illinois. CTU leaders also claim the schools should remain
open because they are the foundations of neighborhoods, yet slightly less than
60% of elementary students attend the school assigned to them by where they
live.
[
to
top of second column] |
As enrollment has quickly dropped, spending per
student has been on a steady rise. Illinois State Board of Education
numbers show CPS spent just over $8,000 per student in 2000 when
435,470 students were enrolled. Although enrollment has dropped by
18% since then, estimates show CPS spent over $17,000 per student in
the 2017-2018 academic year.
CPS has a junk credit rating according to Moody’s
Investors Service. Going into the current school year, the district
had about $8.4 billion in debt and was projected to spend about $850
million on pensions. The teacher’s strike and new CTU contact will
do the district no financial favors.
The latest contract calls for a 24% to 48% salary increase over the
next five years. But the district is also projected to continue
losing students. With a higher budget, no school closings and
irresponsible financial policies from CPS all the way to
Springfield, the district has no real plan to fix its problems.
CPS leaders say enrollment decline can be blamed on fewer adults
having children and more people moving out of the city. CTU leaders
blame it on past and present mayors, and the lack of investment by
an already broke state in livable wages, affordable housing and
public education. Neither side takes responsibility for their role
in declining enrollment.
Excessive contract demands, efforts to limit school choice, a
failure to recognize academic and structural problems and poor
fiscal policy are what are driving students away from CPS. Unless
union and district leaders face why CPS is continuing to fail, more
students will leave the district. Then Chicago and state taxpayers
will be on the hook for the cost of too many schools with too few
children to teach.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article
|
