That’s according to a report Monday from the education advocacy group New Schools for Chicago, which also says about one in every five schools overall isn’t fulfilling the promise of a quality education.
New Schools, previously known for charter school advocacy, took a two-year average of the scores – such as test results and attendance – that CPS uses to rate its schools from Level 1+ at the top down to Level 3.
It found that the school system has improved since 2011, when at least half of the schools in 62 of Chicago’s communities were problematic – versus in six of them now. But about 50,000 of the 381,350 students enrolled in CPS-run schools and charter schools still are stuck, according to New Schools.
“There’s still a lot of kids not getting the education they deserve,” said Daniel Anello, the organization’s executive director. “What was alarming to me was just the ratios. The one in four, to me, is troublesome as an African-American male.”
The bulk of the lowest-performing schools are found on the South Side and West Side, serving predominantly low-income, African-American student bodies that constitute 37 percent of CPS students. Austin, Englewood, the Near West Side and West Englewood account for a quarter of them.
“It is not fair to simply compare race and [School Quality Rating Policy] stats and then question why some schools ‘fail,’ ” CTU researcher Sarah Rothschild said. “A strong team can handle the immense adverse socioeconomic issues that students in struggling communities face, especially when they know the students and their families well.
Austin activist Dwayne Truss said he wasn’t surprised that schools serving African-American children struggle, given the additional challenges of educating poor children. He said he fears CPS might use the data from the group to punish the lowest-performers once a school closing moratorium lifts, saying “they’re justifying potential future actions, the way I read it.”
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