Chicago families need school choice now more than ever. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) published state-by-state and some large-district assessments of scores Monday — and the news is catastrophic.
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A decade of math growth was wiped out. Reading growth, which was starting to fall before the pandemic, fell further. Only 1 out of 5 of Chicago’s fourth graders scored as proficient in math and reading — a more than 10 percentage-point drop in math from 2019. Among the large districts across the county, only Memphis, Tennessee, saw a larger drop in math scores than Chicago. Along with the District of Columbia, Chicago saw scores fall 12 points.
There are many contributing factors here, but the most obvious and avoidable was the prolonged school closures that the Chicago Teachers Union forced.
When Janice Jackson and LaTanya McDade, who headed Chicago Public Schools at the time, warned of the consequences that prolonged school closures would have on the city’s most vulnerable students and urged the reopening of schools, CTU leadership maligned them and everyone else who wanted to reopen schools in accordance with public health and the State Board of Education guidance. In the most famous example, the CTU tweeted on Dec. 6, 2020, that the “push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism, and misogyny” and in January of this year stated that Mayor Lori Lightfoot was being “relentlessly stupid” in trying to restart school.
The results released on Monday show that Jackson and McDade’s concerns were well founded. While the whole of CPS students’ achievement fell, the fall was much steeper for Chicago’s already vulnerable and academically behind students. Black students fell further behind their white peers as the achievement gap widened to more than 40 points. The gap between low-income students and their wealthier peers also widened.
Yet there is cause for hope — at least for Chicago’s Catholic school system. The data shows that the decreases in the public and public-charter sector did not occur in Catholic schools, which reopened more quickly than schools in the public sector.
Working families need schools to be open. Students need schools to be open. This national and representative data shows the academic cost of prolonged school closures brought about by teacher unions such as the CTU. But other data suggests the consequences extend beyond the classroom.
It’s no secret crime is up in Chicago. But a recent report from the University of Chicago Crime Lab indicates that school closures are contributing to this spike — particularly with respect to carjackings. The Crime Lab reports that not only is the rise of carjackings occurring on the backs of those younger than 18, but there also is a strong correlation between those committing these carjackings and access to broadband and school attendance rates. Students wouldn’t have to rely on home broadband if they had access to their schools.
All of this points to the need for urgency. We cannot lose this generation of students, and we’re dangerously close to doing so. We know one thing for certain: School choice works, and the NAEP scores underscore the benefit that private schools, particularly Catholic schools, can have on a child’s education.
But too many Chicago families don’t have access to these schools because tuition is a burden they cannot bear.
State lawmakers will have the opportunity to support school choice policy in the next session with the looming sunset of Invest in Kids, a statewide program that turns private donations into scholarships for kids in low-income and working-class families to have access to private schools.
But more can and should be done locally in Chicago. Those running for mayor in next year’s election should not only have to answer as to whether they believe CTU’s forced and prolonged school closures was a good move but also what their plan is to stem this tide of failure.
School choice must be part of the solution. Our children can’t wait for CTU and the public schools to resolve their political differences for things to get better.
Nathan Hoffman is director of state policy and legislative strategy for the American Federation for Children.
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