Rahm Touted Bogus CPS Graduation Stats During Campaign
By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 2, 2015 6:41PM
The Chicago Public Schools graduation rate that Mayor Rahm Emanuel cited throughout his reelection campaign were incorrect and had to be revised, schools officials admitted Thursday.
The official graduation rate for the class of 2014 was actually 66.3 percent—not 69.4 percent —CPS officials said Thursday after adjusting the numbers. An investigation by WBEZ and the Better Government Association first revealed that CPS was misclassifying thousands of dropouts as transfers. The graduation rate has been revised down two to three percentage points every year since Emanuel took office in 2011.
Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson told WBEZ that the errors were concerning, but that even with the adjustments the graduation rate has been going up.
"The fact that more students have graduated did not change," Jackson said. "Even with the adjusted rate, we have more students as far as the number."
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool deemed the change a "relatively minor modification," according to NBC.