Chicago’s school system is bleeding students while bloating its bureaucracy, and this article lays out why stubborn union protections and a lack of competition are the real culprits. I’ll show how enrollment has fallen, staffing and spending have ballooned, and how denying parents choices traps kids in failing schools. The road forward is choice, accountability, and smarter use of public dollars to reward results rather than protect institutions.
Since 2019, Chicago Public Schools lost roughly 10 percent of its student body even as staff levels swelled by about 20 percent, a mismatch that has driven costs up without boosting test scores. In 2024, 80 public schools reported zero students proficient in math, and 24 reported zero proficiency in reading, a symptom of structural rot not a funding shortage. Pouring more money into these hollowed-out buildings won’t turn around outcomes when the system shields itself from competition and consequence. Voters see it: taxpayers are footing bills for wasted space and poor performance.
The Chicago Teachers Union has been a central roadblock to sensible reform, fighting school closures even when buildings sit nearly empty and students suffer. Union leaders argue closures break community ties, but the real injury is the status quo that holds families captive in failing schools. Protecting jobs and preserving dues often trumps policies that would expand options for kids who need them most. That political calculus keeps mediocre institutions alive at the expense of student opportunity.
SCHOOLS THAT LET STUDENTS LEAVE CLASS TO PROTEST ICE HAVE FAILING ACADEMIC RECORDS
In city politics, rhetoric and reality don’t always match. Union chiefs have criticized school choice as harmful, yet charts and enrollment patterns show families voting with their feet toward alternatives when given the chance. Blocking charter growth and school-choice programs keeps innovative providers from scaling, which in turn denies parents the practical option to improve their children’s day-to-day education. Competition would force every school to earn its students rather than rely on enrollment by default.
TEXAS PARENTS FLOOD SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM, FAR EXCEEDING THE INITIAL 90,000 STUDENT CAPACITY
School closures don’t have to be a blunt instrument that hurts teachers or pupils; done right, they free resources and concentrate talent where it matters. Redirecting savings from underused buildings toward classrooms could mean higher pay for teachers at thriving schools, smaller classes, better technology and merit pay tied to results. Those dollars should follow students, not props and leak-prone roofs, so effective programs can scale and attract top educators. When staffing and spending align with demand, districts can stop subsidizing empty hallways.
Hypocrisy at the top undermines credibility when union leaders demand one standard for others and another for their own families. President Stacy Davis Gates once labeled school choice “racist,” yet personal decisions tell a different story when leaders opt for private alternatives for their kids. That double standard feeds suspicion that the fight is more about preserving power than improving outcomes for all students. Accountability means leaders practice the same policies they demand for others.
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Some defenders of the current setup insist that more funding alone will fix everything, but Chicago shows that dumping cash into failing structures without competition just deepens inefficiency. Douglass High School, for example, reportedly has massive per-pupil spending yet still struggles to produce literate graduates, which tells you money by itself is not the cure. The real fix is tying dollars to students and outcomes, not to brick-and-mortar inertia. That alignment creates incentives for innovation and continuous improvement.
Nationally, big-city districts face the same pattern: enrollment declines while spending swells and results lag, from Detroit to Los Angeles. States that let funding follow the child have seen private and charter options grow, prompting public schools to compete and often to improve. Milwaukee’s voucher experience and gains in Arizona and Florida offer models where choice nudges the entire system toward better performance. Chicago can adopt similar measures but only if unions loosen their chokehold on reform.
Before shutting doors outright, policymakers should give charter and private providers first access to repurpose unused space, so communities can quickly replace failures with viable alternatives. For families stuck with failing local schools, even a fraction of the reported $93,000 spent per child in some cases could cover tuition at higher-performing options tailored to a student’s needs. Shuttering the most underused campuses could free tens of millions each year to reduce class sizes and reward excellence where it exists. That is a pragmatic path that respects educators while putting children first.
If Chicago keeps shielding institutions from competition, it will keep producing the same disappointing results while draining public coffers. The political choice is clear: protect a system that prioritizes adult interests, or empower parents and providers who will actually move the needle for kids. Conservative reforms built around accountability, school choice and fiscal discipline offer a realistic chance to turn empty schools into opportunities. Families deserve a system that competes for them instead of building walls around failure.
