STUDENT BASED BUDGETING CONCENTRATES LOW BUDGET SCHOOLS IN CHICAGO’S BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS

In 2014, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) adopted a system-wide Student Based Budgeting model for determining individual school budgets. Our report examines the impact of Student Based Budgeting. Our findings show that CPS’ putatively color-blind Student Based Budgeting reproduces racial inequality by concentrating low budget public schools almost exclusively in Chicago’s Black neighborhoods. The clustering of … Read more

CLOSED BY CHOICE: THE SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARTER SCHOOL EXPANSION, SCHOOL CLOSURES, AND FISCAL STRESS IN CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Over the past five years, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has confronted annual budget crises prompting CPS to cut resources from classrooms, reduce the number of teaching professionals inside schools, and close public schools. Our research examines how the proliferation of charter schools in neighborhoods of declining population has contributed to CPS’ fiscal stress resulting in … Read more