Since 1996, CPS has flunked hundreds of thousands of students, with a total actual cost of about $1.2 billion, and with unimaginable fallout costs to society. Our entire society loses out when we tell students they are failures. Why does CPS continue to spend $100 million a year on a policy that annually hurts 10,000 children academically and emotionally? There are real interventions that could help. See reports and alternatives at PURE. And if that’s not enough, here’s a report from 1998 entitled the Predictable Failure of Chicago’s Student Retention Program.
CPS must stop flunking students.
Following is my analysis of CPS’ flunking policy’s disparate impact on African-Americans.
Enrollment, Summer School, and Retention by Race in 2008 for 3rd, 6th, and 8th Graders