By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
The speed at which DOGE is pursuing efficiency at the federal government level is both mind-blowing and chaotic. It’s causing elation for some, anxiety for others.
But if you reflect soberly on Illinois and Chicago’s problems – corruption, ever-higher taxes, declining services and a shrinking population – you’ll quickly reach the conclusion Illinois needs a DOGE of its own.
If you’re not convinced, take a look at the mess at Chicago Public Schools. It’s the perfect example of a bureaucratic machine in Illinois that’s able to drive up costs dramatically year after year despite its obvious and ongoing failure to deliver results.
Start with CPS’ abysmal student outcomes. Today, just 1 in 5 students are proficient in reading and math on the SAT. For black students, it’s only 1 in 10. Student proficiencies have fallen about 22% since 2017, the first year Illinois administered the SAT.
That failure has chased away many families from CPS. District enrollment has shrunk by nearly 60,000 students, or about 15%, since 2017. Overall, CPS has lost nearly 25% of its enrollment since 2000.
Yet costs have been booming. In just seven years spending has jumped 84% – from $15,800 per student to more than $29,000. Hiring is way up, too, with total staff growing by 8,000, or 22%.
The whole thing is absurd. Shrinking enrollment, yet more staff. Billions more spent, yet worse and worse results.
The question is, can anybody stop the absurdity?
Nobody in charge today will stop it. Not the current governor nor his Democratic supermajorities. In fact, they’re both complicit in the rising spending and the incredible powers held by the CTU.
Nor will the CTU-backed mayor. He appoints a majority of the Board of Education and they, in-turn, appoint the district’s bureaucrats.
And even if Republicans wanted to stop it, they can’t – not with their super-minority status.
Which means we’ve got trouble. It’s why we need a DOGE.
Maybe one day Illinoisans will get angry enough to finally vote for someone who supports the idea.
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If you want one good example of what an Illinois DOGE could do at CPS, here’s a slam dunk: shutter Chicago’s nearly-empty, failing schools.
The district’s 20 most-empty schools are on average just 15% occupied. Combined, they have space for nearly 23,000 students but enroll only 3,500. There are 899 FTE staff – a ratio of just 3.8 students to 1 staff.
Based on their average operational cost of $28,682 per student, closing just those 20 schools down would save the district over $100 million a year – and that’s not even including the savings on capital/maintenance costs.
And there would be more savings beyond that. A third of the district’s 474 traditional public schools are half-empty or worse. Close 100 of the emptiest schools and the district could save around $500 million on operating costs alone.
Chicago students should be learning in well-attended, dynamic buildings, not near-empty shells. The fact that shuttering schools will save Chicagoans money is all for the better.
Appendix.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- The next absurd bill from Illinois’ legislature: Removing student test scores from teacher evaluations
- No matter what Pritzker or the Tribune says, Illinois’ NAEP education results are abysmal
- Nation’s Report Card results are in: Illinoisans spend billions more on education, yet 2024 reading results are still below 2019 levels
- Chicago Public Schools should reject union demands for 9% yearly raises and implement a salary freeze instead.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
The first chart in this article outlines in dramatic fashion everything we need to know about what’s wrong with CPS and the criminal enterprise that is CTU. And EVERY school on the third chart should be closed without delay.
X has started a ‘DOGE for California’ site. Suggest Wirepoints do similar.
In the hands of less corrupt, less willfully ignorant and sociopathic government, Illinois territory is undervalued asset. It could attract attention of non-corrupt developers if only protections against government non-uniform enforcement of laws are put in place.
Uh oh, someone is confusing a Democratic Party grift with education again.
Look at Douglass HS. Spending is $68K per student and NO ONE can read at grade level? That is a personal tutor per child! This chart screams that “teachers” are not spending any time with the students. I don’t care the circumstances, but spending 8 hours a day with what should be one-to-one teaching at this dollar level should yield students that at a minimum can read at grade level. And not setting the bar too low, their scores should be significantly higher. How can they walk around with their t-shirts and signs touting CTU membership with stats like this?… Read more »
The parent(s) who send their kids to these schools have no clue on what the per pupil expenditures are or do they care. If you were to take a survey of parents and ask them how much is spent on students in their school or the district in general answers would be all over the board. Even if they guess correctly they don’t pay for it so it might as well be $100K per student. This is why tuition should be charged for just 1 year and they can get reimbursed at the end of the school year. They could… Read more »
I do like your idea, but unfortunately many of the households these students live in are financially stressed, and would not be able to come up with the cash even knowing it will be reimbursed.
You’re so right there, Freddy. Much of the problem of parents not caring about the costs of their chlidrens’ “free education” is they don’t think long-term what that means. It means the parents and the children all pay for the costs of that education to include a yearly inflation factor for the rest of their lives! That yearly tax will be further adjusted each time you move beyond your original public school district so the real estate tax bill correlates with your new community’s rates. Free is rarely ever FREE in its real sense, and this is a prime example.… Read more »
Half the country doesn’t have $1,000 in the bank for an unexpected emergency. Inflation is out of control and the cost of living – housing, healthcare, food, shelter, etc – is outrageous. Wages are stagnant at best for working class folks and it’s difficult in the US to get ahead doing honest work or non-unionized labor. The fact that few americans have so much money is a symptom of the problem facing this country. Charging them tuition is unconscionable especially for young families, just starting out, trying to make it. Imagine being 23 right now, wanting to get pregnant, buy… Read more »
Thanks for the reply. I wanted to add that how many of the freebies have a dollar amount attach to it. They know how much is added to their link cards to the penny every month. They know exactly how much they get for assisted housing costs. They know the exact amount for child care for each kid. They know what it costs for ACA if they qualify but they don’t know the cost if they use the ER for their family physician which runs into the thousands minimum for basic care. They know how much in cash they receive… Read more »
I agree – even the well performing public schools don’t seem to appreciate their “free” education. Way too much spending on perks for the high-taxed school districts. We could lower the tax burden for everyone and still fund a fabulous education if they would cut back on pension nonsense and excessive class offerings that do not have a large number of students participating. I would prefer my tax money be used for education and not underwater basket weaving classes.
Interesting idea, but as ‘taxpayer’ below suggests, it’s impractical.
In that same vein… what if CPS offered to split first year savings with parents from right-sizing the CPS system? Close a slew of CPS buildings and take costs per student down from $30k to $20k. Send the parent $5k, CPS pockets the other $5k and all future year savings. You’d see a lot of parents become vocal efficiency activists!!
I absolutely agree with you that the parents have no idea what this actually costs and really whether they do or don’t doesn’t really change the fact that this spending is irresponsible by the board who makes these decisions. It is unsustainable and a complete waste of resources to continue year after year with no change. Whether it is parents or teachers or the students responsible for the over spending and poor performance…who knows, likely a combination of all. But, spending valuable time trying to figure out a ridiculously complicated social issue, while the financial bleeding continues is not the… Read more »
Grand Theft. Not only of money but theft of a good education for the students.
Only in government could a chart like that even exist. Is it really any wonder what the problem is when you see it so clearly. Government looks at a chart like that and launches a gigantic project to analyze the problem, dozens of reports and meetings with the answer being – spend more. You don’t need a fancy PhD to know what the problem is there…at a glance the financial issue can be solved.
Just looking at the Math and Reading scores, compared to enrollment: it looks like all the smart people are moving out