Students returned to their Chicago public schools on Aug. 18. The most recent test data available for Chicago students shows there’s a lot of room for improvement in the new school year.
Students are returning to Chicago Public Schools on Aug. 18. Many will return to see empty seats around them.
But for the hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in Chicago’s schools, there is a lot of room for improvement in the new school year.
The most recent test scores for Chicago Public Schools show fewer than 1-in-3 students could read at grade level. Fewer than 1-in-5 could do math at grade level.
Each year the district gets more money to educate fewer, and proficiency is still far behind where it should be compared to spending.
It doesn’t help when newest data shows 41% of students were chronically absent in CPS. Absenteeism has continued to hover well above the pre-pandemic rate of 24% in 2019. Chicago schools continue to struggle to engage students, especially low-income and minority students.
Here is an overview of what’s been happening in CPS and where parents need to see improvement in the new school year.
Few Chicago students are proficient in reading or math
The most recent data shows most CPS students are struggling to meet grade-level standards in core subjects.
Just 30.5% of CPS students in third through eighth grade met proficiency standards in reading and only 18.3% were proficient in math, according to test data released by the Illinois State Board of Education from spring 2024. That means not even 1-in-3 can read at grade level, and fewer than 1-in-5 can do math.
It was even worse for the district’s 11th-grade students. Only 22.4% of Chicago 11th graders, less than 1-in-4, were proficient at reading on the state-required SAT in 2024. Only 18.6% of CPS students met proficiency in math.
It’s even worse for the district’s minority and low-income students.
Just 23% of low-income students, 25.5% of Hispanic students and 22.6% of Black students in 3rd-8th grade met proficiency in reading in 2024. In math, just 11.4% of low-income students, 13.2% of Hispanic students and 9.3% of Black students in 3rd-8th grade met proficiency.
Similarly, among 11th grade students, just 14.4% of low-income students were proficient in reading, 17.8% of Hispanic students and 11.5% of Black students. In math, just 11.6% of low-income students in 11th grade met proficiency, 14.8% of Hispanic students and 7.4% of Black students.
Many CPS students have not received the preparation they need to perform at grade level, and this challenge is even more pronounced among low-income, Black and Hispanic students.
Slight enrollment increases haven’t made up for years of decline
Enrollment in CPS declined each year between 2011 and 2022. While the past two school years bucked that trend, enrollment is still down compared to ten years ago.
In the 2024-2025 school year, there were 325,305 students enrolled in CPS, according to CPS’ 20th Day Membership Report.
This marked the second school year in a row CPS recorded enrollment growth after the district experienced 11 years of enrollment decline. Yet even with the increase last school year, the district’s 20th day enrollment is down 18%, or 71,378 students, since 2014.
More than 1-in-4 students are chronically absent
Chronic absenteeism has remained high in CPS after it spiked in 2022 following pandemic-related school closures. In 2024, the most recent data available, 40.8% of CPS students were chronically absent. That means they missed 10% or more of the school year, with or without an excuse.
High absenteeism is a warning sign for students, as research suggests frequent absences from school put students at a higher risk of poor outcomes, such as dropping out of school and lower academic achievement.
That doesn’t bode well for the 2-in-5 students who were chronically absent during the school year, up from the 1-in-4 in the last full school year before the pandemic.
But the data is even worse for minority and low-income students in CPS. Black, Hispanic and low-income students continue to record even higher rates of chronic absenteeism. In 2024, 46.2% of Black students, 42.5% of Hispanic students and 44.9% of low-income students were chronically absent.
School spending is up as the district faces a budget shortfall
CPS is facing a $734 million budget deficit. But district leaders must bring a balanced budget before the board of education for approval at its Aug. 28 meeting, the day before the deadline for CPS to adopt a balanced budget.
CPS’ budget deficit comes amid the district operating on larger and larger budgets each year, despite student enrollment trending downwards.
Last school year, CPS’ revenue budget for local and state funds reached a record $7.9 billion for 2024-2025. That’s an increase of nearly $3.2 billion in own-source revenues over the past decade. CPS’ own-source revenues were $4.8 billion in the 2015-2016 school year.
Looking ahead
The statistics are troubling for many Chicago students, particularly those who are minorities or low-income. As Chicagoans ready themselves the start of the new school year, the condition of the district should be a concern. District leaders must do more to address the low rates of academic proficiency, high rate of absenteeism and other critical issues facing the district’s public schools.
