The Worst Statistics from America’s Worst City

December 7, 2024 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

Chicago has been in a downward spiral for years, and you can certainly make a strong case that it has America’s worst mayor.

It has terrible fiscal policy (which won’t end well), but its education policy is probably even worse.

Take a look at this chart showing ever-higher spending and ever-lower academic outcomes.

That’s terrible data for an entire city.

But when you look at specific schools, the terrible numbers become horrific.

Here are some grim details from a report from the Illinois Policy Institute.

Douglass Academy High School spends the most per student compared to any other school in CPS, according to the Illinois State Board of Education’s 2023 Report Card. With that kind of spending, one would expect academic proficiency to soar, but that’s not the case. The most recent test data available shows no 11th grade students could read or perform math at grade level on the SAT in the 2021-2022 school year, and 86% of tested students scored in the lowest proficiency level for reading. …The last school year in which any 11th-grade Douglass students could read or perform math at grade level was the 2016-2017 school year. Just 2.4% of students could read or perform math proficiently then. …As of March 2024, Douglass Academy High School had 23 full-time staff members for its 35 enrolled students, according to CPS’ employee position files. CTU wants to add at least eight staff members to the school’s roster, a nearly 35% increase.

The horrible education outcomes are part of the story (even worse than some terrible New Jersey cities).

But notice the shameless demands of the teacher union. They want to be rewarded with more dues-paying bureaucrats even though (as is so often the case) they deliver awful results.

P.S. Folks in San Francisco, Detroit, New York City, Minneapolis, and Seattle doubtlessly will be insulted at the implication that they don’t live in the most poorly governed city. 

• My Take - The Bottom Is Falling Out for US Test Scores, Nat Malkus - The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study on international assessment measuring fourth and eighth graders in math and science offers a fresh look at the academic performance of US and international students. The results are grim.