CPS Announces Changes for Under-Performing Schools

By Lindsey Miller in News on Jan 19, 2010 10:00PM

Expect some shakeups in the Chicago Public School system this year: 14 under-performing schools will be either closed, combined with other schools, or undergo extensive staffing changes. CPS President Ron Huberman announced a final list of school changes today after unveiling a "Student Bill of Rights," which aims to make it easier for kids to transition to new schools. Two high schools scheduled to go through staff restructuring, Phillips and Marshall High Schools, have undergone changes in the past. They're on the list again due to fewer than 4 percent of students passing state exams last year.

Four schools -- Las Casas Occupational High School, Curtis, Guggenheim, and Prescott -- will be closed completely because of their comparatively inadequate facilities or low enrollment.

Students attending the schools scheduled to be closed will be sent to higher-performing schools in the same area. More emphasis will be placed on getting these students caught up by instituting longer school days or mandating summer-school classes. A complete list of schools marked for changes is available in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Mayor Daley says making the decision to close schools is difficult, but it's necessary to make better schools.

"This is an uphill fight. But you just don't give up and say, 'Well, we have no answer ... The graduation rates and academic performance is not that great. Just let it be.' You have to take some drastic steps -- and that's what it is."