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Charter school students 11 times more likely to be expelled (than Chicago's traditional students)
BY BECKY SCHLIKERMAN, FRAN SPIELMAN AND ART GOLAB
February 26, 2014
Charter school students in Chicago are 11 times more likely to be expelled than students in traditional schools, according to newly released Chicago Public Schools data.
That troubles Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said he hopes charter operators will follow CPS' new, gentler discipline policy.
"I can't make 'em. But, I can persuade them, show them a different model," the mayor said Wednesday. "And we think they're going to be cooperative and work with us because it's so promising what we're seeing at CPS."
The district has been touting the effects of its revised Student Code of Conduct, which limits disciplinary actions - such as out of school suspensions - that take kids out of the classroom.
At the monthly Chicago Board of Education meeting, CPS officials acknowledged that while high school numbers are down - a 36 percent drop in suspensions over the past several school years - the numbers aren't good when it comes to elementary school kids.
About 15 percent more elementary school kids were suspended last school year compared with the 2011-2012 school year, CPS data shows.
And though black kids make up just 41 percent of CPS students, 75 percent of all out-of-school suspensions were handed out to black students.
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