CPS: Expulsion rate higher at charter schools
Disparity sure to become fuel in ongoing education debate
February 26, 2014|By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah and Alex Richards, Tribune reporters
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Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said she inherited "a really punitive zero-tolerance code of conduct" and that the district will continue to seek to reduce the number of students who are suspended and expelled. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)
As it continues to modify strict disciplinary policies in an effort to keep students in the classroom, Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday released data showing privately run charter schools expel students at a vastly higher rate than the rest of the district.
The data reveal that during the last school year, 307 students were kicked out of charter schools, which have a total enrollment of about 50,000. In district-run schools, there were 182 kids expelled out of a student body of more than 353,000.
That means charters expelled 61 of every 10,000 students while the district-run schools expelled just 5 of every 10,000 students.
It's the first time the district has released student suspension data for every school and also the first time it has released data on expulsions for charters. For charter critics, the numbers will buttress long-standing complaints that the privately run operations push out troubled students, allowing their schools to record stronger academic performances.
CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett acknowledged the figures will become additional fuel in the ongoing debate over charters in the city.
"I think there's been a lot of supposition and conversation about what and how the charter success is measured, whether they throw kids out or they keep kids in," Byrd-Bennett said. "I think having the data is going to now lead to productive conversations."
Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, noted that the data show several charter schools do not have high expulsion rates, and discounted the argument that charters use discipline to improve their academic record.
"There's some above and some below the district average," Broy said. "You can't make the
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