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Updated – July 2, 2024

Three CPS elementary schools formerly named after certain “controversial” historical figures will undergo name changes. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the following schools will be renamed as such:

• Melville Fuller Elementary School will change its name to James Farmer Jr. Elementary School. Fuller was the eighth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Christopher Columbus Elementary School will change its name to Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary School.
• James Monroe Elementary School — named after the fifth U.S. President —  will change its name to Logan Square Elementary. 

These changes were based on a district policy that says the renaming process for schools may be initiated under several circumstances, including: 

“When a school community and respective CPS stakeholders choose to name or rename a school, mascot, logo, learning environment or physical marker within a school for any reason, including in response to a demographic or social change[.]”

As of June 28, the Christopher Columbus Elementary School website does not reflect or mention anything regarding the change of its name. The same applies to the website for the James Monroe Elementary School, although the site’s URL address has changed. 

This month, the district laid off close to 600 support-staff members in light of a $400 million budget deficit that the district is facing. 

Additionally, more employees within the district will soon find themselves unemployed. According to Chalkbeat Chicago, CPS will “launch a new safety policy for the upcoming school year that will unilaterally remove school resource officers, or SROs, from all campuses.” This decision comes after a study conducted by the University of Chicago claimed that the removal of SROs at certain schools did not have a significant impact on campus safety. Thus, the conclusion of the study alleges that the SRO presence at CPS schools is unnecessary.

Updated – April 26, 2024

A former student is suing Chicago Public Schools for failing to protect her from an administrator who sexually abused her, impregnated her twice, and coerced her to get abortions. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, alleges she was sexually abused by Brian Crowder, then-Dean of Students at Little Village Lawndale High School, from 2013 to 2016.

Doe says the abuse began when Crowder asked for her Snapchat. He began messaging her via the app and then began a sexual relationship that lasted years. The Chicago Tribune reports:

“During the abuse, Crowder impregnated the student twice, the suit alleges, and pressured her to get abortions. To circumvent an Illinois law that at the time required parental consent for abortions for minors, the suit alleges, Crowder told the clinic that he was the student’s stepfather, signing consent forms under a false name.” 

The student claims she also told a teacher about the abuse; however, the teacher failed to report it. Crowder also allegedly told other employees “who were also grooming students” about his relationship with the victim.

Attorney Martin Gould stated:

“She was abused by a dean who was in charge of disciplining students and keeping students safe at that school. But she was also failed by a teacher who knew the abuse and failed to report it. Every teacher must be trained on recognizing the signs of grooming, the signs of abuse. Every teacher must understand the consequences if they do not report abuse.” 

FOX 11 News reports the district “has repeatedly faced accusations of mishandling reports of sexual abuse by employees.”

“The Illinois Office of the Inspector General took over investigative responsibilities pertaining to alleged abuse by employees after a 2018 analysis by The Chicago Tribune determined 72 CPS officials allegedly sexually abused students between 2008 and 2017.” 

In the wake of these allegations, Chicago Public Schools published the following statement:

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS), prioritizes the safety and well-being of our students. We take seriously our responsibility to ensure all employees act in the best interest of our students. The District does not comment on pending investigations or litigation. Our CPS team follows District policies and procedures as we respond to issues.” 

Following an investigation into his behavior by the Office of the Inspector General, Crowder was removed from his position within the district in 2021. He was later charged with sexual assault and arrested in 2022.

Updated – January 11, 2024

In December 2023, the Chicago Board of Education passed a resolution to move away from selective enrollment and magnet schools to focus on neighborhood schools. The board says the move, which is part of a five-year Transformational Strategic Plan, will address “long-standing structural racism and socio-economic inequality” within the district.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education President Jianan Shi stated:

“While the strategic plan will be developed in partnership with our entire CPS community, we are centering equity and students furthest from opportunity. As such, this moment requires a transformational plan that shifts away from a model that emphasizes school choice to one that elevates our neighborhood schools to ensure each and every student has access to a high-quality educational experience.” 

Six years ago, CPS implemented an application system that could allow eighth graders to apply for any high school in the district, rather than enrolling in their neighborhood school. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, 76% of high school students and 45% of elementary school students do not attend their assigned neighborhood schools.

The policy change could eliminate the opportunity for students to test into one of the district’s selective high schools. CPS has 11 selective enrollment high schools, which consistently rank not only as the best schools in the district but as some of the top high schools in the entire country.

Illinois Policy reports students at the selective enrollment high schools have much higher academic proficiency than CPS students districtwide. In seven of the 11 schools, more than half of the students had proficient scores in reading and math on the SAT. Meanwhile, only one general-education CPS high school had more than half of its 11th-grade students at or above math and reading proficiency.

The Chicago Board of Education noted the plan’s goal was to “ensure equitable funding and resources across schools.” However, nine out of the 11 selective enrollment high schools within the district spend less per pupil on operating expenses compared to the district average.

District parent Katie Milewski told NBC Chicago:

“The selective enrollment schools are one of the shining stars of CPS. They are actually something that CPS has done right. And it needs to be supported. Neighborhood schools absolutely need help. No doubt about that. I’m not sure why those concepts are mutually exclusive. Why neighborhood schools can’t be built up, at the same time of supporting selective enrollment and magnet schools?” 

President Shi told the Chicago Sun-Times:

“This plan needs to be guided and informed by the community. The goal is that we’re able to change (the) current competition model so that students are not pitted against one another, schools are not pitted against one another.”

The Board of Education said community engagement sessions for the development of the new strategic plan are slated to begin in February 2024.

Updated – November 17, 2023

Mariyah Green, a former student at Bogan High School, was awarded $150,000 in a lawsuit that alleged she was forced to participate in a Hindu ritual that violated her Christian beliefs.

The complaint detailed how students were required to participate in a “Quiet Time” meditation program during school hours. As part of the program, students had to engage in a “Puja” initiation rite. According to a press release from Green’s lawyers, Mauck & Baker, LLC:

“This ceremony includes statements recognizing the power possessed by various Hindu deities and invitations to those same deities to channel their powers through those present. The Puja participators were asked to make obeisance in various ways to a number of the Hindu deities.”

Green alleges the teacher asked her to bow to an image of a foreign deity and had students repeat mantras that they were told were “meaningless words.” However, upon further research, Green discovered they were “the names of Hindu Gods.” Green also claims students were told not to tell anyone about the mantras because it wouldn’t be as effective if it “got out.”

The complaint says, “Students who did not want to participate in the Quiet Time program were warned that their failure to participate could impact their grades and disqualify them from participating in their respective graduation ceremonies.” Green felt pressured to comply with the program, but did not feel comfortable doing so due to her Christian beliefs.

“Therefore, on the second day of this training in Transcendental Meditation, Mariyah told the instructor that her knee was injured in order to avoid kneeling before the image of a man in a photograph on a table in the middle of the room, that she described as looking like Buddha.” 

Green’s lawyers called the district’s actions “an egregious abuse of Mariyah’s religious rights.” They stated:

“We appreciate that our legal system allowed for the recognition of the critical Constitutional issues at stake here. Mariyah Green’s concerns have been justified, her voice has been heard, and the offending parties have paid $150,000.” 

A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said the district removed the program from schools in 2020 but “maintains that Quiet Time did not violate any student’s constitutional rights”:

“The District has always denied, and continues to deny, any liability as a result of Quiet Time, and there has not been any finding of liability in this case by a judge or a jury.”

Updated – March 17, 2023

Parents of special needs students have filed a lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools (CPS) alleging a teacher at John Whistler Elementary School mentally and physically abused students. The lawsuit, filed in March 2023, is brought by eight families and names CPS, the Board of Education, the teacher, and the principal of the school.

The complaint alleges the teacher often struck students with her hands, wooden rulers and other wooden objects while yelling profanities at the children, including ‘Get your a– up here’ and ‘Shut the f— up.” The complaint also says it was common for her to tell the children, “the longer you cry, the longer I will hit you.”

Parents who questioned the teacher and principal said they were told “these physically and mentally challenged minor children at times are clumsy (and) tend to fall.” One parent, Pearl King, said she took her 5-year-old daughter to the hospital after she came home from school with signs of abuse. She complained to the teacher and principal, who both “acted like nothing was wrong.”

At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, parents shared their students’ experiences in the unnamed teacher’s classroom. Julie Hagan, who has an autistic 6-year-old son, said:

“I noticed that when he started at Whistler, he stopped eating his lunch. He was not like that before [at] other schools. I also noticed that he would cry as soon as we pulled up to the school, and he didn’t want to go in. I also saw that when he came home from school, he started using expressions that he didn’t learn at home, including ‘Shut your a-word up.’”

Hagan said she assumed he was picking up the language from other students:

“Never did I imagine that he was getting that type of language from the teacher. When I look back on it, what happened made me feel terrible because I wasn’t picking up the signs that my son was being abused.” 

Another parent described her daughter’s behavior, saying:

“Since attending CPS, my daughter’s behavior has changed for the worse. She has begun having violent tantrums, throwing herself around, pulling out her own hair and banging her head on the floor.” 

Parents also allege the principal was complacent and supported the teacher’s actions. Attorney Victor Henderson asked:

“How could something like this [happen] in this classroom, in this school, for such an extended period of time and no one speak up, which makes us think people were afraid to speak up.” 

According to CPS policy, corporal punishment is prohibited. The district released a statement saying the teacher has been removed from the classroom while they investigate the allegations.

Updated – March 6, 2023

A recent report from the Illinois State Board of Education shows Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has a serious problem when it comes to reading and math proficiency. Wirepoints reports there are 30 schools statewide, 22 of which are within CPS, where not a single student can read at grade level. There are also 53 schools statewide, 33 of which are CPS, where zero students are proficient in math.

Take Spry Community Links High School for example. The school says its vision is to “provide a challenging and supportive environment … to enable our students to succeed in the 21st century.” However, the number one goal on the school’s focus list is “increasing reading and math scores to or above grade level.” Out of the school’s 88 students, not one is proficient in reading or math.

After the data was released, CPS released a statement which says, in part:

“As 2022 academic scores were reported last fall, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) saw that, by and large, our scores were consistent with other large urban districts. We have reminded our community that these scores are a direct reflection of the pandemic challenges, not a reflection of the extraordinary talent and potential of our students and staff.” 

However, Wirepoints reports the 2019 numbers show the reading and math numbers were only slightly better than they are now. At Spry Community Links High School, 2 out of the school’s 127 students in 2019 could read at grade level. Zero students were proficient in math.

Illinois Policy reports that CPS has a chronic absenteeism problem that was exacerbated by the pandemic. During the 2021-2022 school year, nearly 45% of students were chronically absent. For comparison, during the 2018-2019 school year, 24% of students were chronically absent.

Nonetheless, Illinois Policy notes the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has also contributed significantly to students’ loss of learning. In January 2022, students missed five days of learning after the union walked out on students over COVID-19 protocols. Students have missed nearly three weeks of instruction due to CTU work stoppages over the last five years.

Updated – March 1, 2023

Chicago Public Schools was featured in a report by the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) titled, “Pills and Pronouns: School Districts Require Parental Consent for Over-the-Counter Medicine, But Not New Names.”

According to the report, Chicago Public Schools are one of several districts where students “are given free rein to choose their gender identity at school by changing their name and pronouns used by school employees without parental consent, even though their schools require parental permission to dispense over-the-counter medication to those same children.”

The district’s “Guidelines Regarding the Support of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” state:

“Therefore, given the sensitive nature of the information, when speaking with other staff members, parents, guardians, or third parties, school staff should not disclose a student’s preferred name, pronoun, or other confidential information pertaining to the student’s transgender or gender nonconforming status without the student’s permission, unless authorized to do so by the Law Department.” 

DFI’s report argues:

“These policies imply that children who are not yet mature enough to decide when they need an aspirin are mature enough to decide whether to go through the school day as male, female, or something else entirely.” 

DFI President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel told Fox News:

“School districts across the country are failing to respect the rights of parents to make decisions for their minor children.”

Updated – January 19, 2023

On January 1, 2023, the Chicago Public Schools Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its annual report detailing hundreds of school employees who engaged in sexual assault or policy violations in the last four years.

The OIG’s Sexual Allegations Unit (SAU) began in October 2018 and is made up of 30 employees “responsible for handling hundreds of sexual misconduct allegations per year.” The SAU says that it opens a case into every allegation it receives including, “anonymous allegations, those offering minimal details or names, allegations of “creepy” behavior towards students, and other similar allegations that can be difficult to investigate.”

According to the report, since 2018, the SAU has opened 1,735 cases and closed 1,384 cases raising concerns of adult-on-student sexual misconduct. Within these instances, 302 were found to have policy violations and at least 16 criminal charges have been filed against adults in the district for sex-related crimes.

The report detailed many of these investigations. One featured a teacher who was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault after it was concluded they groomed and sexually assaulted a student three times. Despite evidence provided by the student and social media records, the teacher was acquitted on all counts in November 2022.

Another investigation involved a charter school administrator who took a student on trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Ibiza and the Bahamas. The administrator resigned after the OIG recommended his termination.

A third account focused on an elementary school teacher who is currently employed by the district. The teacher is facing allegations from the late 1990s of inappropriate and sexual touching of a student.

Some allegations, including the teacher who is currently employed, were listed in the OIG report as instances where the accused could not be charged. These were due to reasons such as delayed reporting, the victims’ inability to cooperate, the conduct being determined “non-criminal,” and jury acquittal.

The OIG report states:

“While the volume of allegations and the number of substantiated cases of sexual misconduct understandably causes concern within the District and impacted school communities, there is no indication that the frequency of these occurrences is higher within CPS than in other districts nationwide.” 

Rather, the document argues that “the volume of complaints indicates that stakeholders within CPS are identifying, and reporting, potential sexual misconduct.”

Published – October 4, 2021

Chicago Public Schools has taken a drastic approach to sex education. A policy passed by the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education in December, 2020, requires that schools that teach fifth grade and up must maintain a condom availability program as part of an expanded vision of sexual health education. That means all but a dozen, which enroll only younger grades, of the more than 600 CPS schools will have condoms. Elementary schools will get 250 condoms and high schools will get 1,000. The Chicago Department of Public Health will provide condoms at no cost to the district. 

CPS implemented new travel guidelines for every student and staff member. Unvaccinated people who leave the State of Illinois – which includes all children 11 and younger who are not presently eligible for the vaccine – have to self-quarantine for seven days upon returning to Chicago, even if they have received a negative COVID-19 test. Vaccinated travelers do not have to self-quarantine or take a test unless they develop symptoms. The district  doubled up on their pressure to force children to take the experimental COVID vaccine, and rendered consequences for those who do not comply.

In early July 2021, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) voted on whether to keep police in schools. Previously, the mayor and Board left the decision up to individual councils. At the July hearing, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson announced that seventeen public high schools in the City of Chicago would no longer have Chicago Police Officers in the building during the 2021-2022 school year. This comes after rising tensions between community members and police institutions following the BLM riots of 2020.  The Chicago Board of Education plans to vote on several reforms regarding police presence and budget allocations in their next few meetings. Community members can discuss their concerns regarding this with their local school board or provide commentary via the Chicago Board of Education website at www.cpsboe.org.

Chicago Public Schools is the largest singular school district in the nation, with an enrollment of over 340,000 students. The district also has over 39,000 staff members.