Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson once stated that he would not eliminate selective admissions and tuition policies in the city's schools, but that seems to be the direction his Board of Education is headed.
Chicago Public Schools could return to a neighborhood school approach, potentially eliminating the selective enrollment and magnet schools currently found in the Windy City.
“A resolution up for a board vote Thursday lays out a framework for a five-year strategic 'transformation' plan that CPS's CEO will present to the board this summer,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “It calls for a 'transition of privatization and admissions/enrollment policies and approaches that increase stratification and inequality in CPS and shift student enrollment away from neighborhood schools.'”
“The ideas align with the education platform on which Johnson campaigned, and like his campaign materials, the framework offers little detail,” the outlet continued.
However, one opinion The article written by Chicago Tribune editors noted, “During his mayoral campaign, Brandon Johnson made a statement saying he would not get rid of Chicago's selective enrollment schools,” adding that the “words specific statements released by his campaign were, “a Johnson administration would not end selective enrollment in CPS schools.”
“One of the main components of this five-year strategic plan is to break cycles of inequality and bring resources to communities that have been historically disadvantaged and continue to be disadvantaged today,” said Rudy Lozano, Jr., Board Member of 'Chicago Education. .
Seconds in the Chicago Sun-Times:
About 76% of high school students and 45% of elementary students do not attend their assigned neighborhood schools. Chicago used to be a neighborhood-based school system, but has moved away from that model over the past 25 years. Just six years ago, CPS officials instituted a new application system where they said they wanted all eighth-graders to take the middle school application, instead of automatically going to their neighborhood school .
Leaders said they don't envision dismantling specialty schools, such as selective enrollment, magnet and charter schools, and that families will continue to be able to choose those options. Some of the city's selective schools consistently rank among the top in the state and the nation.
“What's being omitted here is that we haven't really focused on neighborhood schools. The fact that we're even having a conversation about how we're going to invest in neighborhood schools is a blatant admission that we're not focused on neighborhood schools,” Johnson said.
As part of the plan, a new budget system is proposed that is based “on the needs of students, prioritizing communities most affected by racial and economic inequality, and structural disinvestment and abandonment.”
“This could be controversial, as the district faces a $670 million deficit starting in 2025. Redistributing funding could mean drastic cuts for some schools and leave others unscathed, or even get more,” the Sun-Times noted.
Chicago Tribune editors focused criticism on Johnson's apparent backsliding on what was seen as his campaign promise.
“Some reports on Wednesday suggested, not ironically, that it was not the administration's intention to 'dismantle' charter or selective enrollment schools, as if the Chicago Teachers Union hadn't owned those hated charter schools for years. And we all know who put this mayor in office,” they wrote.
“So who could read this resolution and believe that selective enrollment high schools can now breathe easy?” they asked, shouting “spectacularly weak words” at the resolution.
They also released a statement from board president Jianan Shi, who told the Chicago Sun-Times that the plan “must be guided and informed by the community,” which they called “nonsensical, self-contradictory and disingenuous “.
“Johnson's people can call this resolution a road map, or a transition plan, or a framework, or whatever they want. They must have a very low opinion of the intelligence of the people of Chicago. People will see what happens here,” the editors noted.
“Telling kids that they are all equal and belong in the same classroom, and then denying smart kids a false notion of 'fairness,' will only further hurt the city of Chicago, where this administration has already done so much damage,” he said. editorial concluded. “Children know the truth.”
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