Poor marks for Chicago Public Schools

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

After a lifetime of reforms under Mayor Daley, how do Chicago public school students stack up against their big-city peers?

Anywhere from the near-bottom to the middle of the pack, according to fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math scores released Thursday for 11 big-city districts.


Data from the "nation's report card,'' given every two years, was greeted as proof of Chicago's slow but steady gains in some quarters, and as a "reality check'' in others.

In reading, where Daley ordered a huge push after his 1995 school takeover, CPS eighth-grade Hispanics topped Hispanics in every other city tested, and CPS low-income eighth-graders beat their peers in all but one other city.

But CPS white students produced the second-worst reading scores among whites, in both fourth and eighth grade. Their math scores weren't much better.

CPS blacks scored near the bottom of the heap in most tests.

In Chicago, which has the second-largest percentage of poor kids among the 11 districts, reading and math scores showed little movement from two years ago. But Barbara Eason-Watkins, chief education officer for Chicago Public Schools, noted that Chicago produced gains in every test compared with four years ago.

"We recognize we have a long way to go, but we feel things are moving in a positive direction,'' Eason-Watkins said.

Overall results showed:

• • In reading, the average CPS fourth-grader scored at the 27th percentile, making Chicago No. 8 of 11 cities. Eighth-graders hit the 34th percentile, for No. 5 of 11. Only 17 percent of CPS eighth-graders were "proficient'' in reading.

• • In math, CPS fourth-graders scored at the 24th percentile, making them No. 9 of 11. Eighth-graders hit the 28th percentile, for No. 7. Only 13 percent of CPS 8th-graders were "proficient'' in math.

Generally, said Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education, Chicago's performance was "near the bottom,'' alongside Cleveland and Washington, D.C. She called the results a "national reality check'' and a "sobering counterpoint to the constant happy talk from Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools.''

John Easton, director of the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research, noted that the poor showing of Chicago whites, who comprise about 10 percent of the CPS population, contradicts strong results on state tests.

He speculated that CPS white students may not be as well-prepared for the national test's more challenging material. Plus, the white sample consisted of only about 230 kids.

Some places don't mind paying high taxes for bad public schools.