Chicago Public School System Issues

Chicago Public School (CPS) system is the most understaffed in Illinois, where throughout the state the average student to staff ratio is 11 to one. In the CPS system, it is 16 to one—16 students to every one teacher, and that is just going by averages (Sepeda-Miller, 2018). As Laraviere (2019) puts it, “the 20 most adequately staffed school districts in Illinois have 100 staff members for every 500 students.” Yet in CPS, it is just 29 staff for every 500 students (Laraviere, 2019)—which means when compared to the best that Illinois has to offer, Chicago looks like the worst. That is a serious shame for a city and school system that should be recognized and hailed as the state’s top district. Instead, the reality is that there is no maximum limit on classroom size in the CPS system (Guerrero, 2019), and some classes can grow much larger than already woeful average student to teacher ratios. What all this means is that teachers are at a severe disadvantage and students at an even worse disadvantage since it is their future that is really the concern here. And students are getting short-changed. They and their families seem to know that, too, because enrollment in the district has been declining for years as an exodus—student flight from the district—is massively underway (Leone, 2019). In short, the CPS is in a pitiful state—underfunded, understaffed, with too few teachers, nurses, social workers, and psychologists on hand to provide the school system with the support and guidance it needs. The overall impact is that the CPS system is negatively impacting children by what amounts to a case of educational negligence. This paper will describe this negligence and show what needs to be done to fix the situation and make CPS better for students.

The problem of understaffing is first and foremost the biggest issue that CPS faces. It is caused by the issue of underfunding and a pension plan disaster plaguing the city’s public sector jobs. Teachers do not want to take up jobs not knowing what the future holds and many are already striking to show that they mean it: they want change and they want it now. As Guerrero (2019) notes, “teachers citywide are striking for a better contract that’ll provide more nurses, social workers and a cap in classroom size in CPS.” As the third largest school district in the United States, CPS teachers should be heard loud and clear, but the city’s leaders do not seem to be listening.
Students in CPS need nurses to make sure they are getting the health advice and support students need. Instead, the schools in CPS are neglected with too few nurses employed to address students’ health needs. In today’s social climate, student psychologists are required as well, yet the same problem exists here, too: not enough counselors to go around, and as a result mental health suffers, which risks exposing students to school-wide violence. Lane Tech College Prep, for instance, is a school of 4,500 students. The school has one nurse and two social workers—an outrageous ratio that indicates just how pitiful the condition has become for Chicago schools in the CPS system (Guerrero, 2019). And yet Lane Tech actually has it better than some schools, which only have room in their budgets for a visiting nurse offering one day a week services to students and no social workers at all.
The problem of classroom sizes is another issue. Classrooms should not be swelling to the size of 35 students in one room (Blatchford & Russell, 2019). It makes managing the classroom much more difficult for teachers and can add to their stress levels and their already overburdened work load. For students it is equally troubling. There is no way each student can receive the attention he or she needs or obtain all the support required to meet academic goals and expectations. If children truly are the future, the future is not being taken seriously in CPS. Guerrero (2019) points out that “much more learning is done when teachers and students are in more comfortable classrooms.” Unfortunately, the dire situation in Chicago means comfort is a luxury the school system cannot afford. And that means students will have to rely on themselves if they want to prepare themselves adequately for the future. And if that is going to be the case, why are schools even going through the motions? The entire situation is divorced from all common sense and the problems are come back to the issue of too many promises made and not enough money to back them up.
Many students in the CPS system need access to social workers because they come from unstable homes or homes that are in danger of becoming broken. Parents do not have the opportunity to provide enough support for their children or themselves and students need advice and guidance from social workers that the schools should be providing but cannot because of lack of funds. The students often end up dropping out seeking other more immediate alternatives to help make ends meet.
It puts children at serious risk of not fulfilling their potential. The more at-risk the student, the more likely he or she is to leave school early and possibly end up engaging in criminal activity to try to sustain things for himself or herself or for the home. Girls may end up becoming teenage mothers; boys teenage fathers. The cycle of dependency continues.
Without an adequate supply of teachers, nurses and social workers in the school system, students are left hung out to dry. Teachers, who see what is happening, end up spending a portion of their own salary to help make ends meet in the classroom. Supplies cost money and often they are even cut from the school’s budget, meaning students are teachers are further disadvantaged unless teachers want to put up the extra cost to cover the gap—and some do, as Guerrero (2019) notes.
Today’s striking teachers are attempting to raise awareness about the issues and get the public to support the demand for more teachers, nurses and social workers in the CPS system (Laraviere, 2019). However, it will be hard for Chicago to meet these demands. The money is not there and the expectations that teachers have for serious pension plans are too great. The reality is that everyone needs to reduce their expectations. Teaching is a noble profession and it should pay well to reflect the importance of the job. But if schools cannot offer the pay that should be expected and cannot provide students with the learning experience they should have, then they should close. It is not fair to pretend and extend. Closing would likely lead to further migration—but it would at least be an honest admission that the current situation is untenable.
Being honest about what needs to be done would also open up the opportunity for innovative new alternatives. Instead of a school system like what is currently offered, CPS could come up with new approaches to meeting the educational needs of students in Chicago. Perhaps more vocational training opportunities or co-ops could be made available to students who want to get real about what the real world wants from them. Sometimes a crisis is a perfect opportunity to disrupt and challenge the status quo and rethink the environment that people have become used to just accepting as though there could never possibly be another way to think about education, teaching, growth and development.
References
Blatchford, P., & Russell, A. (2019). Class size, grouping practices and classroom
management. International Journal of Educational Research, 96, 154-163.
Guerrero, M. (2019). Understaffed and overcrowded: Chicago teachers on strike.
Retrieved from https://depauliaonline.com/43619/news/understaffed-and-overcrowded-chicago-teachers-on-strike/
Laraviere, T. (2019). Is the teachers' union demanding enough? Retrieved from
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/teachers-union-demanding-enough
Leone, H. (2019). Chicago Public Schools’ enrollment drops another 6,000 students,
extending long downward trend. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cps-chicago-public-schools-enrollment-decline-20191108-u7qkibaptnb7ljyob3frclgldy-story.html
Sepeda-Miller. (2018). Is CPS the most understaffed district in Illinois? Retrieved from
https://www.politifact.com/illinois/statements/2018/jun/21/troy-laraviere/cps-most-understaffed-district-illinois/