Chicago Public School's Failed Reform Efforts, Report Claims: Arne Duncan's Disaster

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Chicago Public School reform largely has failed, with the vast bulk of students either dropping out or unprepared for college and apparent gains at the grade-school level more perceived than real.
That's the bottom line of a blockbuster report released Tuesday by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, a report that directly challenges the legitimacy of one of Mayor Richard M. Daley's major claimed accomplishments.

Titled "Still Left Behind," the report freely uses terms like "abysmal" to describe the true state of public education in Chicago. The report was prepared by committee President R. Eden Martin, a lawyer, with analytical support from Paul Zavitkovsky of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Half of the students drop out by high school, and of those who remain until 11th grade, 70% fail to meet state standards, the report says. In fact, "In the regular (non-magnet) neighborhood high schools, which serve the vast preponderance of students, almost no students are prepared to succeed in college."

Here's the report(PDF). Obama didn't believe in Arne Duncan's Chicago Public School system, that's why he sent his kids to private schools. As you can see, being Barack Obama's basketball buddy is the road to getting a job: not school performance. For more on Chicago's public schools. I guess many Democrats don't mind paying high taxes for bad public schools.