By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez is taking fire from the Chicago Teachers Union for reportedly developing a list of at least 100 schools that could be closed and/or consolidated due to low utilization rates. The CTU wants Martinez’ head and they’re pouncing on this issue.
It’s all part of the struggle between Martinez and the CTU’s ally Mayor Brandon Johnson – who reportedly has asked for Martinez’s resignation.
Martinez denies he wants to close schools and has reiterated his commitment not to.
That’s too bad. There are plenty of reasons to cut down on the number of schools CPS operates.
More than two years ago, we sounded the alarm on this issue by highlighting CPS’ 20 most empty schools. Like Douglass High School, capacity 912, with just 35 students enrolled. Or Austin High School, capacity 1,776, with just 172 students enrolled. The kicker? Not a single kid in either of those schools could read at grade level based on 2023 testing.
The problem is far bigger than those 20 schools. CPS has more than 163 schools – about one-third of the district’s traditional schools – that are less than half full.
Below we lay out the 100 most empty traditional schools in Chicago. This is not Martinez’s list – that has not been released – but these schools certainly do deserve closure/consolidation.
What’s driving the need for closures and consolidations is the continuing drop in enrollment at CPS. The district has lost 111,000 students over the last twenty years. In 2004, enrollment was at 434,000. Most recently, CPS reported just 323,000 students attending schools. That’s a debilitating drop of 26% over the two decades.
The drop in enrollment has been overwhelmingly driven by a 50% drop in black attendance – down by about 115,000. The fact that crime continues undeterred in the city and that black reading proficiency levels for graduating students remains stuck at near 10% are sure to be contributing factors to their flight.
Shrinking enrollment and budgetary stresses led to the highly-contested closure of 50 schools back in 2013. The resulting outrage led to the school-closing moratorium that is still in place today. As a result of that moratorium, the number of half-empty schools has more than doubled over the past decade.
As the current utilization numbers show, there are plenty more schools to close. And many reasons to do so. Here are just a few:
1. CPS expects a billion dollar deficit in FY 2026 and is already junk rated. We wrote about that in detail here. And according to CPS officials, it’s going to get far worse under the CTU contract proposals. Under the current demands, they expect a $2.9 billion deficit for the 2025-26 school year and growing to as much as $4 billion by 2028.
2. Closing and consolidating schools will save on capital expenditures. CPS wants to spend $1 billion alone on maintenance/upgrades for the 20 most-empty schools. In all, the district says it needs a massive $14.4 billion to address emergency building repairs and to fully renovate all 522 of its public school buildings. That’s nearly $5 billion more than the entire annual budget for the district.
3. Consolidation actually plays into CTU’s demands. Fewer schools makes it easier to fulfill the union’s per-school staffing demands – including more librarians, nurses and other support personnel. If the union really believes that those staff are needed to improve student outcomes, it should approve of closings and consolidations so the district can more easily provide the needed amount of support staff for every school. Of course, the CTU doesn’t approve because that would reduce its membership and its power.
The biggest opposition to school closings is that they serve as a key community asset. But schools like Manley Career Academy – with just 7% utilization and only 2% of kids reading at grade level – isn’t much of an asset. If anything, it’s a drag on the community.
Chicagoans’ deep-seated connections to their neighborhood schools shouldn’t be easily dismissed. But neither should the long-term trend of families fleeing CPS, the increase in empty schools and worsening literacy rates. Not to mention the tax hikes as the costs of mismanagement keep going up.
Appendix
Read more from Wirepoints:
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.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The CTU should be told that the schools will be kept open if the CTU membership is willing to have their salaries cut in half. You cannot get blood from a turnip.
Time to jetison the teachers unions.
Something to tickle the funny bone.
https://babylonbee.com/news/10-most-devastating-effects-of-getting-rid-of-the-department-of-education
Chicago public schools has been failing for a long time now, high drop out rates, teen pregnancy, relocation of families. Deteriorating neighborhoods, gang violence, high unemployment and the list goes on. How did they ever think this was going to get better without the proper action, that has long term positive results. Now here they are blaming one another for things they all let go on without a second thought, until it was brought to the light.
Farragut, Manley, Marshall and Crane are within blocks of each other and but for gang affiliations could easily be consolidated.
An interesting read is LANE MEMORIES found at Lanetechalumni.org. School memories from 1938 to 2003 recall what a truly good school can be.
When I say that the stupidity and greed of CTU is bottomless they turn around and prove the point. Bust this union now. Toss these rats and leeches to the curb.
Right about now would be a good time to hear from a simp that claims CTU is all about the Kids. We also need some democrat loser to claim that closing an empty school is racist. Those two claims carried in a mainstream media outlet should be enough to keep the slaves in line and paying for another 10 years. In order to be a subservient slave like most people in Chicago, do you start out as a loser and relish your victimhood or do you slowly lose your self respect over time until your spine is completely gone. Pray… Read more »
Why’s it gotta be about slavery? Telling imagery.
I knew that someone happy in his slavery or delusion would step up and apparently, try to play the race card. A perfect example of why Chicago and Illinois will never change. The poor deluded slaves are happy being slaves. Why change?
Your fixation on the sword slavery is what is telling.
Words mean things. Why say slaves when you could say lemmings or sheeple or something equally dismissive. This is a bizarre usage of slaves. Pretty sure the idea he’s reaching for is people willingly giving something up. That is not a slave. Full stop.
Well, the fruits of my labor is FORCED to pay for Tom in Punta Gorda with a lavish pension…
Illinois is paying for Tom in Punta Gorda. You are not FORCED. You choose to live in Illinois and pay taxes according to the laws of Illinois. This is your choice. Take some ownership of your decisions.
Not my choice for much longer….
For 90% of CPS students, CPD non-selective enrollment are non-academic public daycare facilities, costly but largely ineffective holding-pens for children. These daycare facilities operate during abbreviated school-day during abbreviated school-year, with less service time than average day-nursery operation. The provided classroom babysitters, labeled “teachers”, are predominantly graduates of 3rd-rate colleges and universities, higher-ed diploma mills cranking-out B Ed graduates who often can only read at Grade 8 academic-achievement level. Some CTU teachers, including Mayor Johnson, openly admit they rarely assign homework. Curriculum is heavily focused on progressive social talking-points, and mostly ignore “3-Rs” core basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.… Read more »
You’ve said nothing new here at all, and most here readily agree, I’m reasonably sure. But, what do you propose to change the system for the better? What you have given essentially is political spin with no redeeming value. Offer a realistic plan to improve what is to what should be. It’s easy to be a critic and much harder to be a change agent. Inspire us with your brilliance!
I’ll share a few ideas although I doubt they’ll ever gain traction in union-controlled metro areas like Chicago. >Keep disruptive students out of classrooms. If they would otherwise disturb the public order, keep them in rooms supervised by lower-paid personnel who are tough enough to impose needed discipline. Let law enforcment handle them after school. >Teach needed skills like reading or math and don’t promote those who don’t meet grade-level expectations. If they learn basic skills, branch out into music, sports, art, science and other topics useful to adulthood and eventual employment. >Allow lots of re-entry points into an “education… Read more »
Hello James. If the system is changed it must start from administration on down. There are many dedicated teachers but their hands are tied as to what they can do without approval from the higher ups. I’m sure there are some Joe Clark’s from Lean on Me movie but are afraid of reprisals if they act on their own. Here is the article I posted a few times from 2011 for the Rockford school district. The super blames everything but administration like kids have disabilities or suffering a major trauma or they are abused or whatever excuse he has. This… Read more »
Freddy, I always appreciate your kind and thoughtful replies. Most here tend to explode mostly with rage and put-downs, but fail to give anything in the way of workable long-term solutions. I can agree with the sentiment, but the problems needs a set of long-term workable SOLUTIONS. What is never discussed is where are any such people expecting to find multi-thousands of suitable high quality teacher candidates and with the reduced wages and benefits so many here seem to think more appropriate for such positions. They want top-tier teacher candidates going into some of the worst teaching conditions in America… Read more »
Thank You for your kind words. I keep thinking about all the people who emigrated from European countries in the 40’s and up who came to America seeking a better life. Most were uneducated by our standards like my parents and many others. Many did not graduate grammar school yet they learned the basics of math/reading and some writing and brought the values of hard work and ethics with them. Look what obstacles they had to deal with when they reached our shores. They dis not know the language (like the migrants now) had little to no money. most of… Read more »
I agree with much of your response. To a large degree I also agree with the basic premise of many others here and elsewhere who posit that schooling has taken on many societal-fixing goals rather than really concentrating harder on what used to be considered the basics: readin’, writin’ and (a)rithmics, the “3 rs” of years gone by. No single business or institution can successfully aspire to address a multiplicity of goals with high expectations for their reaching more than mediocre success when doing so. We need to expect public education to concentrate on fewer goals that are tried and… Read more »
What is “realistic” in Chicago (or in Illinois, for that matter) with the public-union-centric government units and their costly compensation and benefits and those unions’ tendeny to contract-protected work-stoppages and absenteeism? Not to mention the flight of the canceled and the non-woke? Clean the stables before you plant the gardens.
I’m simply asking to see a plan for the planting of that new garden and why it should be done that way before you start cleaning the stables. Too much to ask?
It’s a Big Ask but if the union and Board could agree to some sort of test case based in an under-utilized facility with (say) 1st – 4th graders and a reasonable cross section of students and teachers of varying experience levels — and with parents on board for suspension of students who are disorderly — and with a focus on basics (to be defined) and with a mediator respected by both sides to resolve (promptly) issues that are sure to crop up … … it might move the ball. One problem would be if each “side” tried to manipulate… Read more »
Now you’re talkin’! Seems good to me. Why not propose it in one format or another to someone of political influence? Do it, I beg of you. We need to “get off the dime” and make such proposals to people who can be a “mover and a shaker” to turn what’s mostly bad into good, don’t you think? I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of people who simply complain endlessly and take no personal action with people who count politically to make things better. I care not the least who gets credit for starting that ball… Read more »
As an octogenarian retired lawyer living in Seattle, I think a better approach would be to have Wirepoints gather some comments pro and con (and/or adjustments that have some consensus) and present a discussion draft to someone respected and unaffiliated with the current combatants. My affection for Chicago has to do with (a) it’s my birthplace and (b) both my daughters went to grad school at Northwestern. My current focus is the degree to which public schools in Seattle, Detroit, etc. seem to be following the Chicago path (no AP courses, teaching to the lowest common denominator, work stoppages by… Read more »
Thanks for your thougtful reply. I don’t know how many responders will take it to heart, but I appreciate your comments.
Yes, we do appreciate those thoughtful comments — both Jerry and James.
Is that the French version of “Rome wasn’t built in a day”?
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-origin-of-the-saying-rome-wasnt-built-in-a-day
I guess you’re saying my guess was correct. I’ll likely watch the video but not do so in the next hour or two, let’s say. Thanks for your response, although I had no idea I’d be taking a course in how it came to be.
Yes, you taught me something today and thanks for doing that. Count me in as a member of the dying saying-origin tribe with this sentence as my way of certifying my membership.
See fi.edu for Ben Franklin quotes and quips in English!
a response you might enjoy: roger, wilco, out
No redeeming value? What of teacher quality? An ACT score of 19 makes it difficult to do college level work. That is the last figure I read regarding CTU teachers. And what of B students from education diploma mills? Now, I have no idea what the statistics are, but what if Streeterville is right? It raises all sorts of interesting questions. As the blogger Education Realist points out, do you need a 28 ACT to teach K-3 kids how to read and do basic math? Realist thinks not, but also points out that at that level classroom management is key,… Read more »
Your first few sentences are simply the usual moaning and complaining. We know all that already. What I’d like to see from someone intellectually is far more demanding than that, a plan—or as someone said recently at least a concept of a plan, the lesser-valued alternative. We’ve heard plenty of complaints already. Fire up those neurons so long dormant, and let’s do better!
Many, many neurons have been fired up for years. The insular education establishment refuses to listen to anyone outside their sacred turf.
Yes, we’ve heard plenty of complaints already. From teachers bemoaning how tough they have it, while continuing to vote for the likes of Stacy Davis-Gates and Brandon Johnson.
More moaning. Get beyond the moaning, screaming, crying and “it isn’t fair” stages of a teenager to the next logical step—devising some general grand plan to hope for—or maybe even expect—an improved set of outcomes.
James, I think you know that I have neither moaned nor complained in my comment. But if that makes you feel better, have at it.
I want to be made aware of a suggested plan (any plan) of action, something we can all get behind as a practical step to hope for progress in what often seems a hopeless waste of taxpayer dollars as most seem to agree here. We have enough complainers already. No more applicants need apply!
James, Here is a plan to help those kids who are now 3 years behind. My go to answer is Khan Academy. Most kids are behind in the 3 R’s especially math and reading. How many kids at CPS are even aware of this program. I tell people in casual conversation I meet if they know about Khan and most say they never heard of it. Home schooled are aware and use it. The kids can catch up very quickly but why is this not mentioned or offered by most districts? Here’s a sample of 2nd grade math. Try an… Read more »
On the surface I like Khan Academy’s videos, but underneath that endorsement I have to add a huge caveat, repeating a slogan I’ve seen a few times: “machine learning, machine feelings”. What that means in practical terms is that only people who are above well average in their interest level will attend to impersonal advice or instruction. I agree with that sentiment and suggest to you that likely only maybe 10% of students will “stay tuned” in the long run to any such media-centric instruction. The rest will soon fall asleep mentally without personal interaction with the speaker or his… Read more »
I’m guessing this requires initiative and adult support that many kids don’t have and wouldn’t be effective in a system that prioritizes the lowest common denominator. Transforming the peer group is a core challenge within a value system run amok. No reason not to keep trying however. We seem to have periodic revivals following our national crises.
As I’ve said before, the education industrial complex cannot take an honest look at itself, and must be reformed from the outside. The basic fact is that kids are not learning to read because they are not being taught to read. These kids need plenty of remedial help, they probably need to spend 2x-3x as long as non-remedial children just to learn the basics. But there’s no time in the day for that because of SEL and classroom management issues….and that’s before we even get to the cultural issues of so-called whiteness, where kids who learned to read are bullied… Read more »
90% of students aren’t learning? Get serious.
You’re right. Only 80% of students aren’t learning. That makes it so much better.
Ummm……clearly you aren’t paying attention or are a CTU stooge or both. Wirepoints (this very website FYI) own data shows that only 4 in 10 CTU students function at grade level. 1 in 10 Hispanic kids function at grade level and 1 in 12 black kids function at grade level. In case the math is beyond your CTU skillz these numbers are 40%, 10% and 8% respectively (A word that means in the same sequence as the prior sentence. Since you may be a CTU member I really am not sure just how deeply to dumb down this information.)
If any of the data you cite reconciles (look it up) to 90% daycare mode, then I guess those skillz are beyond me. You have 4 in 10 and then some subsets that are well below (some might say underserved). Not everyone can be average like you so maybe get curious about how to level the playing field.
Huh? Im not sure what this gibberish means – I get it math is hard (and racist) – but I do know the only way to improve CPS students grade level performance: Eliminate CTU from the system. There is a common denominator to CTU’s educational failures and it is CTU. (There I go again. ‘Common Denominator’. Likely too many syllables for a CTU member and Im tired of being the one doing the teaching here so…..look it up.)
Logic fails again in Chicago. We are told low-occupancy low-use schools, cost-prohibitive to staff and operate, must be kept open at all cost, even if CPD must borrow money to do so, because — why? Because CTU says so? Because 3/4th empty schools are somehow neighborhood cultural artifact shrines?
Of course CTU does not want underutilized school to close. Principals would be put back into classrooms. Who wouldn’t want to be a principal in a school with just 35 students? CTU is putting their cushy jobs ahead of students The teachers are not educating the students. Maybe that’s why CPS wants to change the metrics. The current testing demonstrates the abysmal job they are doing. When is CPS and CTU going to come up with a plan to actually teach students?
Again Kansas City in the 90’s is instructional. A federal judge ordered billions in taxes, with the funds used to build facilities and make for integrated schools. The program was an utter failure. Student enrollment precipitously declined. So of course KC had to close a number of schools. Chicago will soon face this too, but the CTU will make it slow and painful. One KC commenter pointed out that education jobs are vital to the distressed communities, with even local pastors getting wind of any planned closings, making the process expensive and difficult. And teacher quality was the least of… Read more »
Principals aren’t even in CTU. Educate yourself.
CTU are parasitic financial vermin. Fire them all, bust the union and school vouchers for all.
Useless vitriolic comment.
School vouchers for all parents is a workable solution. Period. (BTW CTU are in fact parasitic financial vermin. No vitriol here. Just the cold facts.)
Dehumanizing is a common tactic used by fascists. Thanks for showing us who you are.
Tom Paine’s Ghost doesn’t go far enough describe them. Ask me after a beer or two how I really feel…
Right. “When all else fails yell Nazi.”
The people here prefer to yell “socialist” or “communist”. The other side of the same childish coin.
The low hanging fruit here on CPS cost sticks out so much even a CPS 6th grader could find it. Never mind the lack of effectiveness. Pretty obvious CPS is an expensive ‘jobs program’ for the CTU. Who allowed this? Why was it not managed back years ago? Martinez seems to want a participation award for his lack of leadership.
100% protecting a jobs program. If CPS told CTU that closing X number of schools would save Y millions of $, and all of the savings would be used to provide raises for CTU members, there’d be no “for the kids” protests. Or if CTU was told all CTu workers would simply be redeployed, there’d be no “for the kids” resistance. CTU should be supporting consolidation of schools to preserve resources for better results. What exactly do the principal and admin at Douglas HS do all day/work/month/year their 35 students, none of whom read at grade level?
Next question: what is the actual attendance-rate for those 35 students? Expect high truancy as well, by both students and their teachers.
If a frog had wings, they wouldn’t bump their ass a’hoppin.
Oh right, the cushy jobs. Why not take advantage yourself?