Chicago’s Douglass Academy High School, despite spending an astronomical $68,091 per student, has failed to achieve even a single academic win. The stark reality is that none of the students at this underpopulated school, which only has 35 enrolled students but capacity for 900, could meet proficiency levels in reading or math on recent SAT tests.
The Illinois Policy Institute reports that the school’s lavish per-student expenditure starkly contrasts with the district average of $18,287. Despite this significant investment, Douglass Academy shows some of the worst academic results in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system.
Maybe if the Chicago Teachers Union focused more narrowly on member benefits and classroom excellence and less on stuff like leading a socialist revolution and advocating for extortionate tax rates, more families would decide that raising a family in the city makes sense. pic.twitter.com/BuC5OkG9lt
— Stuart Loren (@StuLoren) July 10, 2024
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has pushed back against closing underutilized schools like Douglass Academy, demanding instead the addition of more staff. Their new contract demands include hiring at least eight additional staff members per school, a move that would further inflate the budget by $1.7 billion across the district. Currently, Douglass Academy employs 23 staff members for its 35 students, and the union’s proposed additions would push this to 31 staff members, resulting in a nearly 35% increase in staff.
Academic performance at Douglass Academy is dismal. The most recent data from the 2021-2022 school year reveals that 86% of students scored at the lowest proficiency level for reading. No students were proficient in either reading or math. These figures are a testament to the ongoing failure of the high spending strategy without corresponding academic outcomes.
I'd say the misuse of the word "academy" is felony-level.https://t.co/sU1Pq5T9Ay
— Christopher Long (@OctaneBoy) July 12, 2024
Absenteeism compounds these issues. In the 2022-2023 school year, 64% of Douglass Academy’s students were chronically absent, compared to the district average of 40%. Teacher absenteeism is also a problem, with nearly half of the teachers missing 10 or more days of instruction during the school year. This high rate of absenteeism among both students and teachers exacerbates the challenges the school faces in achieving academic success.
The CTU’s new contract demands are extensive and costly. They include adding a range of staff positions across all schools, from librarians to gender support coordinators, which critics argue will further inflate costs without addressing the root causes of poor academic performance.
This situation at Douglass Academy highlights a broader issue within CPS: the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of high spending without accountability and tangible results. With fewer than 10 incoming freshmen each year, the justification for maintaining such high expenditure per student becomes even more tenuous. The CTU’s resistance to closing underperforming and underutilized schools, coupled with their push for increased staffing, raises questions about priorities and the effective use of taxpayer money.
In conclusion, the staggering $68,091 per student expenditure at Douglass Academy, amidst abysmal academic outcomes and high absenteeism, calls for a critical reassessment of CPS spending practices and union demands. Addressing these issues is essential for improving educational outcomes and ensuring that funds are used effectively to benefit students.
All one must do is look for those politicians with all the cash dangling out of their pockets. Once these criminals get their pockets full, there’s only a few thousand per student to help.