Chart of the day: Stubborn CPS segregation
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Cook County hosts some of the most segregated schools in the country, driven largely by CPS, according to a new report looking at 2022 data.
Why it matters: Researchers have found school segregation disproportionately hurts Black and Latino students since those schools tend to have fewer resources, higher teacher turnover, and fewer advanced classes.
The big picture: Friday is the 70th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling — meant to end legal school segregation in the U.S.
- Yet new reports and an Axios review of federal data show that nationally many districts are catching up to CPS with dramatic segregation increases in K-12 public schools.
Zoom in: Segregation at CPS remained steadily high over the last three decades, peaking in 2013 and staying nearly the same rate through 2022, according to Stanford University researchers.
- Their analysis measures rates of exposure between students of different racial groups, showing the least exposure at CPS between white and Black students.
The intrigue: CPS magnet and selective enrollment schools were created, in part, to reduce segregation, but their demographics still don't reflect those of the district as a whole.
- Mayor Brandon Johnson and his new school board signaled they would try to change that with new funding formulas and shifting resources to neighborhood schools.
Yes but: State lawmakers are considering a bill that restricts selective funding cuts and freezes school closures, which could slow that process.