Oct. 16--This has been a disastrous time for Chicago Public Schools.
--Former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting bribes for steering no-bid contracts to an education consulting firm in exchange for $2.3 million in promised kickbacks, extending Chicago's reputation for systemic public corruption to its school system.
--Two weeks earlier, CPS admitted that its boasts of soaring high school graduation rates -- touted as its greatest sign of recent success -- had been exaggerated. Graduation rates have risen -- if you can believe the newest numbers -- but to a lower level than CPS had claimed.
--A week before that, CPS revealed that its enrollment has plunged to 367,499 students, down nearly 6,000 students since last year, and down 71,000 students since the 2002-03 school year.
--In late August, the Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a budget that wasn't close to balanced; it begs for a nearly $500 million bailout from the state legislature. Nearly two months later, there's no sign of help from Springfield. Schools CEO Forrest Claypool warns that as many as 5,000 teachers could be laid off starting around Thanksgiving.
--The prospects of relief from the state seem dim. That would require an agreement between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. Rauner will give the Chicago Democrats what they want -- more tax money -- but the Dems won't give significant concessions on the governor's political and economic reform agenda.
CPS started its pitch to the state leaders with a weak hand, and that hand has only gotten worse with the news of contract corruption, questionable graduation gains and declining enrollment.
If Springfield doesn't pony up, CPS will almost certainly be forced to make massive cuts that would pack many more students in each classroom and cripple the teaching corps. The Board of Education will be tempted once again to borrow its way out of this crisis. But that would just push the school district closer to insolvency.
CPS has to show how assistance from Springfield would lead to a sustainable, productive school system, one that is structured for today's student enrollment, not the enrollment of 15 years ago.
By several valid measures, CPS has made progress in student performance. Test scores on national exams have risen. More students are on track to graduate. Claypool's mission -- the goal of every teacher and principal -- is to build on that progress. But there are still starkly different views on how to do that.
The academic improvement flows in part from the district's consistent push to create more school choices, including high-quality charter schools. Yet the Chicago Teachers Union opposes charter schools. The Chicago City Council is falling in line: 42 of 50 aldermen say they support a resolution calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion.
The Board of Education is expected to vote soon on proposals for a new crop of charters. Operators seek to open or expand 13 charter campuses next year. Some would be co-located in existing CPS schools. The list of proposals includes several operators, such as Noble Street Charter and KIPP Chicago, that have outstanding performance records. CPS has every reason to build on a record of success.
But in making these decisions, CPS leaders can't ignore the district's declining enrollment and staggering financial hole.
We urge the board to approve the best of the charter expansion proposals. At the same time, some of the poorest-performing charter schools should be tapped to close. That should extend to the poorest-performing neighborhood schools too. But the school board should make clear it has no tolerance for charter schools -- for any schools -- that don't measure up.
Parents still thirst for high-quality charter schools. Last year, even as overall school enrollment plunged, charter school enrollment rose. (Charter students are included in that district total of 367,499.)
Some momentous decisions are coming for CPS. It has to make its case to state leaders that it can get beyond the latest evidence of corruption and shaky claims of success. It has to make the case to parents and students, who are voting with their feet. It has to make the case that it is putting every dollar available into the classroom, into students.
The future of Chicago Public Schools requires a massive recalibration of its financial structure, yes, some help from Springfield -- and a relentless push for better and better school models.
