Chicago school board approves measure to do away with ranking schools after longstanding structural racism

Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday voted unanimously to pass a 5-year strategic plan that vows a “renewed focus on equity” and moves away from ranking schools based on student outcomes.“Everything is done through an equity lens,” CPS Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez said at the Special Board Meeting on Wednesday before the vote.Martinez went on to say, “Our new approach does away with school rankings and labels and just like our shift in defining student success, we’re not just going to look at a narrow set of outcome data…” He continued, “we’re going to be tracking and focusing the inputs on practices, conditions, resources, supports, and putting the onus back on the district to ensure that each school has the components to drive student success.”The board vice president, Elizabeth-Todds Breland, cited Chicago’s past “longstanding structural racism and socio-economic inequality.”“Despite many education reforms over the course of many CPS strategic plans, opportunity gaps for our students have persisted,” Breland said.The 5-year strategic plan, titled “Together We Rise,” faces funding challenges as COVID-relief funds are drying up.According to the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), a think tank that tracks policy decisions within the state, CPS currently faces a projected $500 million deficit for the next school year.The plan consists of a 47-page document that outlines the district’s priorities and investments starting in 2025-29. During the board meeting on Wednesday morning, Martinez explained further that student success was defined by a narrow set of metrics that “relied heavily on test scores.” “Our new approach is to define student success more holistically,” Martinez said.“Measuring not just academic progress because that is still important, but student well-being and connection to the extent that they’re an empowered decision maker.

Whether or not they’re prepared and making sure they’re ...