CPS officials on Thursday announced that the district’s 20th day enrollment, which serves as the official tally for the academic year, had risen by about 0.4% up to 323,291 students. That marks the first increase in student population in 12 years.
Pedro Martinez
Following years and years of declining enrollment, Chicago Public Schools officials believe the number of students currently attending district schools is in line with totals from the same time last year.
The tentative agreement, announced late Wednesday, came just as educators at the city’s only privately managed, public arts high school were set to go on strike.
As Chicago Public Schools has seen an influx of migrant students, CEO Pedro Martinez said the district has been able to rely on its longstanding infrastructure to make sure these new students get the education and care they need.
Mayor Brandon Johnson joined CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates at Beidler Elementary School on the city’s West Side early Monday as kids began the 2023-24 school year.
“I think this might be the first time in CPS history … that you have a board that’s made up of almost every one of us has some experience with CPS — either we’re parents, we’ve served on (Local School Councils), we were students or we were educators,” new board appointee Mariela Morales said
Miguel del Valle, who has led Chicago’s Board of Education since 2019, announced he will be leaving his post at the end of this week.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez notified Jones College Prep parents and families Monday that Joseph Powers has retired after serving as the high school’s principal since 2008.
Chicago Public Schools unveiled its budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which officials say will boost per-pupil spending by nearly $1,000 and reduce the number of schools that will see decreased funding, compared to spring projections.
CPS confirmed Friday that Stephanie Jones, the district’s chief of the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services (ODLSS), is stepping down from that role after four years effective immediately.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, announced that the school district is in the process of expanding its paid parental leave up to 12 weeks for birthing and non-birthing parents.
On the final day of classes for Chicago Public Schools students, Mayor Brandon Johnson again signaled that he may be planning to keep schools chief Pedro Martinez in that position moving forward.
Speaking before the Chicago Board of Education at its monthly meeting Wednesday, Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter said the changes he’s seen in terms of district cooperation are “unprecedented.”
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez did not get into specifics while speaking before the Chicago Board of Education Wednesday, but reiterated that principal Abdul Muhammad “had to be pulled” from the school “for multiple reasons.”
The district’s overall budget, which was $9.4 billion in 2023, will be essentially unchanged in 2024, with officials planning to spend an additional $150 million next year, mostly to add instructors in special education classes.
Chicago Public Schools is planning to spend $76 million to expand and upgrade the number of security cameras both inside and outside of district-run schools across the city — a move it says will improve the safety of students and staff.
