School-level budgets released by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in mid-July show about $31 million in total cuts, with most of that diminished funding coming from traditional neighborhood schools.
Greg Hinz, of Crain’s Chicago Business, noted that “traditional neighborhood schools would take a $61 million hit in the new school year, even as charter schools reeled in $30 million more.”
For instance, for FY 2016, West Side high schools like Marshall, which is projected to enroll 79 fewer students this upcoming year than it did last year, stands to lose more than $875,000; while the yet-to-open Moving Everest Charter School, which is projected to enroll 180 students during its first year of operation this upcoming school year, stands to earn more than $1.5 million.
The shift in funding, Hinz wrote on July 18, “is due to a change in CPS policy, in which money now follows the kids, wherever they go to school. But with the city slowly losing school-age population and charter enrollment up fivefold in a decade — from 11,000 in 2004 to a projected 60,000 in September — the city may be setting itself up for a repeat of 2013.”
That’s the year the city closed 49 public schools.
The CPS policy Hinz describes is called “student-based budgeting” and Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, believes it’s a “better system,” because “it allocates money based on the schools that do a better job of educating students,” Crain’s reports.
But according to Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, believes that, instead of offering better education alternatives, charters cherry-pick students more likely to be high achievers.
As Crain’s summarized Sharkey’s opinion, “Neighborhood schools also lack the promotion expertise needed to compete for bodies.”
“The whole situation has become a bit of a setup for neighborhood schools,” he said.
Below is a select list of schools in Austin Weekly News’ readership area. It shows enrollments changes and the total change in each school’s funding from the last fiscal year.
To read more on the new CPS budget, click here and/or here.
School Name || FY 15 Enrollment || FY 16 Projected Enrollment || Change in Enrollment || Total Change from FY 15
- Austin Bus & Entrp HS || 150 || 129 || -21 || -$85,340
- Austin Poly HS || 170 || 162 || -8 || -$134,071
- Brunson || 559 || 499 || -60 || -$283,238
- Clark ES || 250 || 248 || -2 || $2,345
- Clark HS || 516 || 508 || -8 || -$207,854
- DePriest || 666 || 679 || 13 || -$26,853
- Douglass HS || 241 || 225 || -16 || -$198,659
- Dvorak || 400 || 380 || -20 || -$235,091
- Ellington || 605 || 617 || 12 || $97,112
- Faraday || 332 || 356 || 24 || $110,882
- Frazier Charter || 385 || 377 || -8 || -$59,747
- Frazier Prospective || 292 || 302 || 10 || -$118,132
- Gregory || 376 || 387 || 11 || -$136,738
- Hay || 478 || 442 || -36 || -$163,487
- Hefferan || 373 || 399 || 26 || $312,780
- Hughes C || 265 || 263 || -2 || -$28,108
- Jensen || 417 || 402 || -15 || -$43,883
- Kellman || 378 || 380 || 2 || -$18,406
- Leland || 569 || 542 || -27 || -$364,933
- Lloyd || 1080 || 1038 || -42 || -$366,186
- Lovett || 413 || 399 || -14 || -$45,003
- Lowell || 524 || 520 || -4 || -$4,062
- Lyon || 1419 || 1410 || -9 || -$53,422
- Manley HS || 376 || 339 || -37 || -$459,352
- Marshall HS || 520 || 441 || -79 || -$875,390
- Mason || 368 || 340 || -28 || -$351,483
- McNair || 346 || 359 || 13 || -$51,837
- Melody || 511 || 500 || -11 || -$74,792
- Moving Everest || 0 || 180 || 180 || $1,504,283
- Nash || 319 || 299 || -20 || -$210,525
- Nobel || 770 || 767 || -3 || $12,855
- North Lawndale – Christian || 411 || 411 || 0 || $15,542
- North Lawndale – Collins || 410 || 415 || 5 || $60,948
- Penn || 344 || 338 || -6 || $153,900
- Plamondon || 142 || 128 || -14 || -$45,743
- Sayre || 494 || 466 || -28 || -$230,714
- Schubert || 785 || 776 || -9 || -$139,341
- Spencer || 703 || 649 || -54 || -$539,065
- Steinmetz HS || 1697 || 1648 || -49 || -$378,276
- Stowe || 696 || 682 || -14 || -$108,486
- Sumner || 284 || 244 || -40 || -$516,494
- Tilton || 330 || 323 || -7 || -$314,081
- Voise HS || 264 || 221 || -43 || -$432,864
- Ward L || 589 || 566 || -23 || -$112,942
- Webster || 252 || 248 || -4 || $3,783
- West Park || 592 || 572 || -20 || -$83,674
- Westinghouse HS || 1128 || 1155 || 27 || $280,769
- Yates || 519 || 493 || -26 || -$400,602
- Young ES || 974 || 910 || -64 || -$333,217
