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| Graphic via Illinois Policy |
We are longtime supporters of the mission of Uplift High School and wish we didn't have to see data like the above. But facts are facts.
It's beyond terrible that we are spending nearly $40,000 per student to get 13% proficiency in reading and 0% proficiency in math.
We know the administration and teachers are trying, but with high levels of absenteeism and very low enrollment, when is enough enough?
Readers have written us before about the overcrowded campuses at McCutcheon and Brenneman. Like our readers say, maybe it's time to move on from Uplift and consolidate those schools here...
The way schooling works in this city it's of a race to the bottom once enrollment dips & performance slips. For a school that is supposed to be a community hub, their 5Essentials results would indicate extremely low parent involvement. This is the most important factor in any kids education. Teachers, administrators and staff work incredibly hard but their influence is limited if parents don't care. Anyone with the wherewithal and who is plugged in would not send their child to this school; there are plenty of alternatives. The cost per pupil is due to enrollment being so low, I don't know that it's particularly informative here other than to show this school is failing. Obviously nothing is simple here but why did Zaccor get put on the school board exactly after she failed to get elected? Isn't this one of the achievements she was citing?
ReplyDeleteIf McCutcheon and Brenneman are overcrowded while Uplift has excess capacity, consolidating students into a newer, larger, updated facility seems like common sense. It would allow CPS to better utilize existing space and avoid spending additional taxpayer dollars on aging buildings that may require further investment.
ReplyDeleteEveryone wants students to succeed. The question is whether maintaining multiple underutilized buildings is the best use of limited resources when there is already a facility available to serve more students.
They should reopen the Uplift pool — it’s been closed since the pandemic. Uptown doesn’t have an indoor pool. Such a shame and a huge community resource (and job generator)
ReplyDeleteI suspect CTU will fight any effort to consolidate schools. Zaccor was placed on the board because CTU needed an ally after she lost to an "anti-CTU" candidate. Sadly, it doesn't seem like CTU really cares about student performance and it's more about power and politics. Instead of putting the dues into trying to elect their friends, they could put that money towards supporting the teachers and students and supply them with the supplies they say CPS is not providing them.
ReplyDeleteWhat this is not showing is what the students and staff at Uplift are continually up against. On paper, the school is performing terribly and it may actually be terrible, but this graph does not tell the whole story of Uplift.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what success would look like in their context.
72% of students are in the low income bracket (state is 50%)
19% of students are identified as experiencing homelessness (state is 2.7%)
12.7% of students transfer in or out mid-year (state is 7.3%)
33.5% of students are on an IEP (state is 16.3%)
In regard to moving elementary schools to Uplift. If you look at % utilization, neither of these schools are overcrowded by CPS standards.