Education

CPS Enrollment Drops by 11K Students Amid Questions Over Possible Future School Closures

Enrollment across Chicago Public Schools has fallen by more than 11,000 students this academic year compared to last, according to district officials, who pointed to migration trends and declining birth rates as root causes for the decline.

CPS CEO Macquline King on Thursday said the district’s 20th day enrollment — which is typically used as the official student count in a given year — has fallen to 304,687 students in the 2026-27 academic year.

That’s a decline of 11,537 students from the same time last year, she said.

“Here’s the bottom line: What we control is the quality of education and experience that we provide our students,” King told the Chicago Board of Education on Thursday. “That’s what our families care about and that has been my focus as superintendent/CEO — investing in students, improving the student experience and working with our school communities to help every student reach their potential.”

Despite the reduction, CPS has regained its title as the nation’s third-largest school district, topping Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which saw more substantial student declines this year.

King on Thursday said that jump felt like “winning because someone tripped.”

CPS enrollment has consistently declined in recent years. The district’s 20th day enrollment in 2005-2006 stood at 420,925 students, according to CPS records. A decade ago there were 381,349 students.

District officials said public school enrollment has been dropping in big cities across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic amid declining birth rates and reversing migration patterns as fewer people are entering the U.S. and more people are leaving.

In Illinois alone, there are 200,000 fewer public school students now than in 2017, according to CPS.

That has led to questions about whether CPS could look to close any schools in the future.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union and some board members joined community leaders outside CPS headquarters Thursday morning to demand an extension of the moratorium on school closures.

That moratorium expires at the end of the current school year, but education advocates are pushing for a renewal, more than a decade after CPS controversially shuttered 50 schools in 2013.

“Let’s imagine that every Chicago neighborhood (has) a school where children can learn, families can access support and the school is once again the center of community life,” CTU Recording Secretary Vicki Kurzydlo said.

The topic has become an issue in the upcoming Board of Education elections, where for the first time ever, all 21 members will be chosen by the public.

Three of the four candidates running to become the next board president expressed at least some willingness to close schools during a recent town hall forum hosted by WTTW News.

Only Hilario Dominguez, CTU’s former political director, said he was totally against future closures. Other candidates said that if schools are to be shuttered, it needs to be done in a more thoughtful manner than the 2013 mass closings with far more community input and support.

Current board member Michilla Blaise — who was appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and is running for reelection in the 5B board district — said Thursday she’s an “absolute no” on any future closings.

“It’s easy for people to say — who don’t live in our communities — that we should close schools in our communities,” Blaise said. “The moratorium on closing schools should be renewed because our schools haven’t had a chance, they haven’t had the investments they’ve needed.”

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