Chicago Public Schools’ new year begins with help from the new mayor — and many old and looming challenges
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When more than 320,000 Chicago youths resumed classes Monday, the sense of renewal brought by a fresh school year was underscored by the presence of Chicago’s new mayor, a former teacher who welcomed students and offered encouraging words at several stops around the district.
Yet the change at City Hall is also the beginning of a period of transition in Chicago Public Schools as it moves to an elected school board, and divorces itself from city oversight and funding, starting in 2024. The district will also be negotiating a new contract with the teachers union and will soon see the end of both COVID-19 relief funding and a moratorium on school closures — all while dealing with ongoing struggles such as chronic enrollment loss, a shortage of bus drivers and underpopulated, aging buildings.
And following an increase of about 2,300 English learner enrollments last year, the state’s largest school system faces language barriers in attempting to meet the needs of hundreds of new students who are children of newly arrived migrants, many of whom have been staying in city-run shelters or police station lobbies for months.
Right before 8 a.m. Monday, a group of parents and their children gathered outside the Inn of Chicago Hotel downtown, one of the largest migrant shelters, ready to head to their first day of school.
“Estoy contento,” said Ronald Larez, 9. He is happy that he will finally start school again, joining dozens of other children of asylum-seekers living in the shelter who began classes at The Ogden International School of Chicago.
Chicago Public Schools had been preparing to accommodate new English learner students, most of them children of migrants. About 1,000 enrolled through the summer, and officials said they anticipate about 1,000 more through the beginning of the school year.
Ronald’s mother was excited to walk her son to school, but many other mothers from the shelter still needed to file paperwork to enroll their children in school, she said, including her sister. The two woke up early to rush to the school, she said.
When Ronald walked into the school, she felt relief. “Gracias a dios ya está en clase,” she said. “Thank God he is now in class.”
Among schools that continue to receive newcomer students after the start of the year, CPS said it will allocate resources as necessary to support their enrollment, often as English learners.
“We will always be here to support you and your family; the things that you will need. It is our responsibility to make sure we do that for you,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said while visiting a bilingual homeroom Monday morning at Brighton Park Elementary School, where students were writing in their journals about activities they do well. “I’m looking forward to all of the incredible work that you’re going to do this year, all the new friends and new ideas and concepts that you’re going to develop.”
The school was one of several that the mayor — a former Chicago Teachers Union organizer and the parent of three CPS students — toured Monday. In stark contrast to his predecessor Lori Lightfoot’s years of rancor with the Chicago Teachers Union, amid a strike and then clashes over COVID-19 closures, Johnson was accompanied by not only CPS CEO Pedro Martinez but also CTU President Stacy Davis Gates in his tour of schools, along with Service Employees International Union President Dian Palmer, state Rep. Theresa Mah and Ald. Julia Ramirez.
“We’re going to have your backs, but you’ve got to do us a favor: to never stop learning,” Johnson said. “Raise your hand as many times as you possibly can — and not just to go to the bathroom. Raise your hand and ask as many questions as possible, because it’s through those questions that you’re going to help change the community that’s raising you.”
CPS said in a statement Monday that in addition to meeting its rapidly growing bilingual education needs, the district will continue efforts this school year to provide reasonable class sizes; expand pre-K, arts and college prep programs; and provide stronger social-emotional and mental health services to students and support for teachers.
“Treat these two women well,” Johnson told the students regarding their homeroom teacher and teacher assistant. “Can you do that for us?”
With a $9.4 billion budget for this school year, CPS said it’s hired nearly 500 more teachers and more than 700 more education support staff, such as teachers assistants, special education classroom assistants, counselors and nurses, than last school year.
“The district continues to build on gains in literacy, graduation rates, capital investments, and college and career success,” Martinez said in a CPS news release.
With temperatures in the 90s forecast later this week, some parents with children attending elementary schools where classrooms have broken ACs raised the need Monday for new, green schools or capital improvements to aging and inadequate HVAC systems — as climate change increases the number of school days requiring cooling.
“Let’s keep an eye on the AC systems today,” Martinez said on his phone outside Brighton Park Elementary before the tour of classrooms began.
“CPS strives to ensure students in every neighborhood have access to safe, accessible, high-quality facilities where they can play and learn,” the district said in its statement, noting its facilities team is in the process of completing 60 site improvement projects, including 55 new or renovated playgrounds. After passing a “scaled-down” $155 million capital budget this year, CPS said a supplemental capital budget will come later this year, shaped by “robust” community engagement.
At Brighton Park, Johnson thanked facility staff and struck up a conversation on green technology with pre-K students creating structures from magnetic tiles he said resembled solar panels. “There are a lot of people that want to see more green technology utilized,” he said. “You’re gonna save my administration because people want me to hurry up. You know, I’ve been here for a 100 days?”
Other CPS challenges the Johnson administration faces include bus driver shortages that have seen the district prioritize transportation services for diverse learners and students in temporary living situations, while providing general education students in selective enrollment or magnet programs free CTA passes. As of Monday, the district provided transportation for more than 7,100 students, according to a CPS news release.
Diverse learners and students with the greatest needs will also receive targeted investments this year, CPS said.
Ace Romo, a parent of two Carl Von Linné School students, said he’s glad to see the Avondale dual language school welcome nearly 100 migrant children from a nearby shelter this year.
“I think it’s great the way the school has come together to help those children,” Romo said while dropping off his kids for their first day of school.
Right before his fifth grader walked into the building, he gave him a fist pump.
“I love you, I’m proud of you, have a great day,” he told his son.
Romo said that back-to-school days are always special because they are a reminder for children that they can start fresh and set new goals.
“If you start today on a good path, it’s going to be easier to stay on that path,” he said.
