Chicago Public Schools Case Study

The Chicago Public Schools system is the fourth largest school district in the United States by enrollment. (CPS) Students are offered three paths when enrolling in individual schools, charter, district, and selective enrollment. Charter schools and selective enrollment schools are offered for residents of the city regardless of the district in which they reside. Thus, district schools are exclusive to residents within a specific set of boundaries. Beginning in 2001, CPS Superintendent Arne Duncan closed numerous elementary and high schools due to low classroom sizes and underperforming test results. University of Chicago researchers countered his method of consolidating underperforming schools with nearby school districts and claimed his

Teachers, parents, and other community members have become increasingly unhappy with the rapid increase in the number of school closings, the limited input that the public has had in the process, and the fact that displaced students typically do not enroll in schools that perform better than the ones they left behind. Also, receiving schools have struggled to accommodate an influx of new students, sometimes more than once, with few extra resources provided to integrate them. CPS has responded to the public by limiting the closing of schools for academic reasons, focusing instead on creating turnaround schools in which students are allowed to remain in the same building after almost all of the school staff is replaced. This report specifically examines the impact of closing schools on the students who attended shutdown schools and draws four central questions: How different are the receiving schools from the closing schools? Do displaced students suffer any disruption in learning due to the closing of their schools? If so, when does it start and how long does it last? Do school closings improve the educational prospects of displaced students? Do characteristics of receiving schools shape the educational opportunities of displaced students? If so, what are those school characteristics and how much do they help