Chicago Public Schools will open 15 more Sustainable Community Schools this upcoming school year, meaning roughly 10% of district schools will receive extra funding to partner with nonprofit organizations and provide wraparound support for students and families.

Program Expansion

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the expansion Monday morning at Malcolm X College, where he was joined by allied Chicago Board of Education members, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and several educators whose schools are part of the program or are joining this year.

There are now 51 schools in the program, which CPS launched in 2018 with the CTU. The district’s contract with the union requires 70 schools to join the initiative by the end of its contract in 2028.

Schools in the program receive $500,000 annually to work with a community-based organization and provide extra programming and support for students and parents, such as hiring more mental health professionals.

Benefits and Challenges

The expansion is a sign that the “days of school closures, consolidation, and privatization has ended officially,” Johnson added — a potential nod to candidates for school board he doesn’t align with, who may be interested in closing schools in response to CPS’s dipping enrollment.

District officials, the union, and school leaders have described the program as a godsend for schools with lots of students from low-income families. However, a Chalkbeat analysis last year found that schools have mixed outcomes and have left millions of dollars unspent.

Student outcomes are mixed. Schools that originally joined the program now have higher graduation rates than schools that didn’t get into the program. Suspensions dropped among all schools in the program, as they did at similar schools outside the program. But chronic absenteeism is higher, and enrollment is lower, at participating schools.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.