Introduction to Sustainable Community Schools Initiative
CITYWIDE — Chicago Public Schools will add 16 schools to a joint initiative with its teachers union that provides campuses $500,000 annually to offer more student and family services, officials announced Monday. The Sustainable Community Schools initiative has offered after-school programs, parent outreach, restorative justice support, and other services in tandem with community nonprofits at 20 schools since 2018.
Expansion of the Initiative
The expansion to 36 schools for the 2025-26 school year is part of the new Chicago Teachers Union contract that includes an agreement to grow the number of participating schools to 70 by the end of the four-year deal in 2028. At a press conference at the South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and district and union leaders hailed the program’s expansion, even as they acknowledged significant fiscal challenges that make its sustainability uncertain.
Fiscal Challenges
The district is gearing up to unveil a 2025-26 budget in the face of a $734 million budget deficit. But officials said they are determined to keep backing the program. Johnson’s mayoral transition team recommended rapidly growing the number of schools in the program to 200. The mayor used the occasion to make yet another appeal for more state funding for the district — an ask state lawmakers have signaled they are reluctant to accommodate. On Friday, Illinois released new calculations showing CPS will get an additional $76 million in state aid this year, bringing the total to $1.9 billion, slightly more than district officials expected.
Benefits of the Initiative
“Until our schools become community hubs in every single neighborhood, we won’t see real transformation,” Johnson said, calling Sustainable Community Schools “truly the future of public education.” A string of pandemic-era evaluations of the initiative have shown mixed results, even as they acknowledged COVID’s disruption of its rollout. Some schools offered more mental health and social-emotional support to students and moved away from punitive discipline. Others reported slower staff buy-in and communication issues with community nonprofits. Overall academic outcomes were largely in line with those at schools with similar demographics not receiving the extra support.
New Sustainable Community Schools for 2025-26
The following schools will be added to the initiative:
- Ira Aldridge Elementary School
- Austin College and Career Academy High School
- Belmont-Cragin Elementary School
- James H. Bowen High School
- Cesar E. Chavez Multi-Cultural Academic Center
- George W. Collins Academy STEAM High School
- James R. Doolittle Elementary School
- Englewood STEM High School
- Stephen F. Gale Community Academy
- Harold Washington Elementary School
- Gurdon S. Hubbard High School
- Stephen T. Mather High School
- McCutcheon STEAM Elementary School
- Richard J. Oglesby Elementary School
- Telpochcalli Dual-Language Elementary School
- George Washington High School
Challenges and Success Metrics
The 20 schools already participating in the program have also lost 15% of their student enrollment since 2018, and a half-dozen have lost more than a quarter of their enrollment — a much sharper decline than the district overall experienced. When asked how the city will track whether the program is paying off for students, Johnson said he wouldn’t measure success based on student outcomes, such as test scores and graduation rates, but rather on the extra staff and programs the schools offer students. “The schools are successful when every single child has everything they need,” he said.
Community Impact
At Monday’s event, Alicia Anderson, a recent graduate from Fort Dearborn Elementary School on the South Side — one of the initiative’s original campuses — said the program had shifted the campus climate. She said the school now offers more mental health support and chances for students to weigh in on classroom and school decisions. The initiative “is important because it gives schools the opportunity to put their students first,” she said. School board member Jitu Brown spoke about the hunger strike and community activism that led to the reopening of the South Side’s Dyett High School in 2015, and which he joined as an organizer.
Selection Process
Officials said the district and union chose the 16 schools joining the program this school year using the city’s hardship index, which considers poverty, homelessness, and other factors. They invited almost half of the district’s roughly 500 campuses to apply. Officials said they sifted through 87 applications to choose the new schools, seeking a mix of majority Black and majority Latino schools in neighborhoods that experienced historic disinvestment. Officials did not say which community organizations will partner with the 16 campuses; no representatives of these schools spoke at the Monday press conference. “It’s an investment in our students,” said interim CPS CEO Macquline King. “It’s an investment in our communities. It’s an investment in our future.”
Conclusion
The expansion of the Sustainable Community Schools initiative is a significant step towards providing more support to students and families in Chicago. Despite fiscal challenges, the district and union are committed to growing the program and making it a success. With its focus on community engagement, mental health support, and restorative justice, the initiative has the potential to make a positive impact on the lives of Chicago students.
FAQs
Q: What is the Sustainable Community Schools initiative?
A: The Sustainable Community Schools initiative is a joint program between Chicago Public Schools and its teachers union that provides $500,000 annually to participating schools to offer more student and family services.
Q: How many schools are currently participating in the initiative?
A: 20 schools have been participating in the initiative since 2018, and 16 new schools will be added for the 2025-26 school year.
Q: What services do participating schools offer?
A: Participating schools offer a range of services, including after-school programs, parent outreach, restorative justice support, and mental health support.
Q: How will the success of the initiative be measured?
A: The success of the initiative will be measured based on the extra staff and programs offered to students, rather than student outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates.
Q: What is the city’s hardship index, and how is it used to select participating schools?
A: The city’s hardship index considers factors such as poverty, homelessness, and other challenges faced by communities. It is used to select participating schools and ensure that the initiative is targeting the most needy areas.
