Chicago Public Schools Lose 77,000 Students Since 2010 as 35% of Campuses Sit Half Empty
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 22
Chicago Public Schools Lose 77,000 Students Since 2010 as 35% of Campuses Sit Half Empty
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 22
Summary
Frederick Douglass Academy had 27 students in a building built for 1,000, underscoring a wider CPS enrollment slump that has left 13 schools with fewer than 100 students.
Chicago Public Schools have lost more than 77,000 students since 2010, driven not only by families leaving the city and a nearly 50% drop in births, but also by parents opting out of neighborhood schools.
CPS still enrolls most Chicago children, yet its share fell from about 75% to 71%—roughly 18,000 city students choosing magnet, charter, parochial or private schools instead.
School quality is a central factor in that shift: Black students in selective-enrollment high schools are three times more likely to read at grade level and five times more likely to be proficient in math than peers in traditional public schools.
The report also blames the Chicago Teachers Union's political focus, noting it spent a record $4.2 million on politics and lobbying in 2025 while less than 18% of total spending went to representing teachers.