Enrollment In CPS Is Stable for the First Time In a Decade
For many years Chicago Public Schools (CPS) enrollment rates were declining instead of what was expected, which was for student enrollment to increase. Well, now for the first time in a decade, enrollment statistics are looking better and in a more stable rate for Chicago Public Schools. The current data demonstrates that this school year, just over 322,500 students are registered. Compared to the student count last school year 2022-2023 of 322,106 enrollments. With this statistics, it shows that the enrollment is definitely improving.
Moreover, the way schools systems intake data is by confirming the amount of students on the 20th day of school every year since school starts. That is how they determine how many students will be enrolled in Chicago Public Schools for the year.
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez mentioned that he was pleased that preliminary data shows this year’s total is “relatively consistent with last school.” This claim demonstrates that there is a pattern starting to be noticed with the consistency of enrollment. Actually, part of this increase boost has been due to the thousands of incoming new families that have been migrating to Chicago from the southern borders since last year.
The Shocking Constant Decline of CPS Student Enrollment
In fact, CPS districts had lost students for about 11 consecutive years. Chicago even gave up its status as the nation’s third-largest public school system because of the decline.
Furthermore, Chicago Public Schools lost more than 80,000 students during that sequence of time. Meaning, the district student body shrunk by 20%.
As a matter of fact, the last time that CPS saw a jump or a boost regarding the enrollment statistics was for the school year of 2011-2012 which was from 403,681 to 404,151 students in total.
What Factors were Driving the Decline in Student Enrollment
There were many different factors that were making the student count enrollment go down rather than increasing. Some of these factors that have been determined were:
- Low birth rates.
- Population changes.
- Decrease in new incoming immigrant families.
- The COVID-19 pandemic.
- And other factors.
These factors contributed in decreasing the CPS enrollment and have affected Chicago Public School in the past decade. Especially when the COVID-19 pandemic hit society. It had an ever greater impact in terms of enrollment with more than 33,000 students dropping out since the fall of 2020.
It also impacted the funding because during the pandemic students scholarly and academic needs grew. For a long time, enrollment has been determining how much state and federal money a school or district gets. Mayor Brandon Johnson does not agree with this system, of tying funds and enrolment hand in hand.
The Good and Bad News
Overall, the good news is that at the moment CPS is having consistent, stable, and increasing enrollment. There has been an increase of more English learners, more students in temporary living situations, and more diverse knowledge seekers.
CPS CEO Martinez said, “We are pleased to note that this is the first time in a decade that District enrollment has remained stable and we are honored and privileged to serve each and every student.”
On the other hand, while, “it is still too soon to determine if this trend will remain stable and ongoing, since we don’t know what will happen in the future,” according to Elaine Allensworth, Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. This claim shows that this stability is still uncertain if it will remain within schools districts. However, it is definitely expected for the trend and stability to continue and for the communities to support and work together with this districts.
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
Chicago Sun Times: CPS enrollment stabilizes for first time in a decade
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Public Schools Enrollment Is Stable For First Time In More Than A Decade
ABC 7: Chicago Public School’s enrollment remains stable for 1st time in years
Chicago Public Schools: Twentieth Day Enrollment Data Reflects Smaller Decrease than prior years with 322,000 Students for SY23
WTTW News: After Years of Decline, CPS Believes 2023-2023 Enrollment is ‘Relatively Consistent’ With Last Year
Featured Image Courtesy of Phil Roeder Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Krissy Venosdale Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
