In a first in at least a decade, this year Chicago Public Schools will not approve any new charter or contract schools to open in the coming fall.
Not having the process for approval play out over the winter months will certainly be seen as a political decision. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is running for re-election, has come under fire for opening charter schools after closing 50 neighborhood schools last year. CTU President Karen Lewis is considering a run for mayor.
However, CPS officials emphasize that some charter schools will still open next fall. An Intrinsic Charter school and an elementary school operated by a new group called Chicago Educational Partnership already were given conditional approval through the last process to open in Fall of 2015. In addition, as many as five charter schools—the Concept school in Chatham, two UNO schools, one Learn school and an Aspira High School–that were originally slated to open in Fall of 2014 have asked the district if they could delay the opening. It is unclear what their plans are now.
CPS has yet to post a request for proposals (RFP) this year—a document that usually comes out in the summer and outlines what types of schools and locations the district hopes to add to its portfolio. Spokesman Bill McCaffrey says the district plans to post an RFP in December, but that it will only ask for proposals for schools to be opened in the Fall of 2016.
McCaffrey says the delay is to allow potential charter and contract school operators time to go through the entire process, which includes being vetted by CPS and public hearings. “We want to ensure adequate time for the process,” he says.
Wendy Katten, director of the parent advocacy group Raise Your Hand, welcomed the announcement, but said she would like to know what officials are thinking.
“You never know if they just didn’t want any noise during the election year or if they are thinking about the number of seats and considering whether they need to open up more schools,” she said.
Rebeca Nieves-Huffman, Illinois State Director for Democrats for Education Reform, said that there is an urgent need for “high quality charter schools, particularly in underserved communities.” She welcomed the next review process as an opportunity to “create more charter options that would address overwhelming parent demand.”
Also, it does not look like CPS will be doing much in the way of school actions this year. On Wednesday, as it must do by law, CPS posted it guidelines for school actions, which only featured criteria for co-locations and for changing the attendance boundaries of schools.