Contact:
Amy Smolensky, 312-485-0053
Wendy Katten, 773-704-0336
Chicago – April 2, 2015 – In an independent investigation of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) data from the 2014-15 school year, parent education advocacy group Raise Your Hand has revealed that there are currently 12,637 empty seats in existing charter schools based on the CPS threshold for ideal enrollment. This equates to 64 schools or 50 percent of Chicago charter schools.
“The issue here is that CPS continues to rapidly expand charters at a time of fiscal crisis and declining enrollment, starving existing schools of needed resources. The money and students are not there to justify this,” said Executive Director of Raise Your Hand, Wendy Katten.
These revelations combined with an enrollment decline of over 7,000 students since 2012 and mass charter, contract and alternative high school expansion since the district closed 50 district schools for “underutilization” have parents and community members across the city demanding a halt to charter expansion. In light of its findings, Raise Your Hand is calling on Chicago elected officials to support efforts to curb proliferation of charter expansion during this time of fiscal crisis and declining enrollment.
Parent and Raise Your Hand Board member, Jennie Biggs added, “The number one type of school with waiting lists in Chicago are magnet schools, with over 99,000 applications each year according to WBEZ data. Parent decisions clearly are not what’s driving the decisions to open more charter schools.”

ACE TECH HS
AMANDLA HS
ASPIRA - EARLY
COLLEGE HS
ASPIRA - RAMIREZ
HS
ASPIRA-HAUGAN
BRONZEVILLE
LIGHTHOUSE
CATALYST-
HOWLAND
CICS-BASIL
CICS-
WASHINGTON
PARK
CICS-ELLISON HS
CICS-LONGWOOD
FRAZIER PREP
Below is a comprehensive list of charter schools with empty seats based on CPS’ space utilization data (subtracting reported enrollment from CPS’s ideal capacity figures. For 2014 comparison numbers, please e-mail amysmolensky@comcast.net
.
School Name Enrollment
Ideal
Capacity
Empty
Seats <--2015
578
472
468
634
448
325
508
77
432
479
1266
406
870
690
570
690
696
408
600
468
450
600
1,500
600
292
218
102
56
248
83
92
391
18
121
234
194

FORD HS 97
KIPP ASCEND
NKRUMAH
722
312
LEGACY
NOBLE ST-COMER
HS
PERSPECTIVES-
LEADERSHIP ACAD
HS
PERSPECTIVES-
CAL TECH HS
PERSPECTIVES-IIT
HS
496
1022
641
449
572
POLARIS
PROVIDENCE
ENGLEWOOD
SHABAZZ-
DUSABLE HS
SHABAZZ-
SIZEMORE
426
512
145
268
U of C-DONOGHUE
U of C - NKO
566
342
630
600
420
960
360
984
624
912
480
360 263
990
510
780
1,116
268
198
284
94
343
175
340
54
118
455
152
394
18

U OF C-
WOODLAWN HS
U of C-WOODSON
UNO-DE LAS
CASAS
URBAN PREP-
ENGLEWOOD HS
YOUNG WOMEN'S
HS
EPIC HS
URBAN PREP-
WEST HS
URBAN PREP-
BRONZEVILLE HS
LEARN- 4 / SOUTH
CHICAGO
CICS-HAWKINS HS
UNO-SOCCER
ACADEMY
CICS-QUEST HS
CATALYST - MARIA
MONTESSORI
ENGLEWOOD
NOBLE ST - SILVER
/ AUB GRESH HS
LEGAL PREP HS
956
258
647
251
450
237
576
295
336
421
418
479
650
352
287
477
1,020
300
888
600
600
816
600
960
384
624
720
768
1,320
840
300
672
48
203
302
665
64
42
241
349
289
150
579
24
670
488
13
195

KIPP CREATE 233 450 217
NOBLE ST -
CRIMSON HS
NOBLE ST -
ORANGE HS
CHRISTOPHER
HOUSE
CHICAGO
COLLEGIATE
INTRINSIC
266
263
167
173
449
672
1,236
600
270
864
406
973
433
97
415
KIPP - BLOOM
GREAT LAKES
FOUNDATIONS
KIPP - PRIMARY
165
125
112
109
540
210
210
120
375
85
98
11
21,815 34,452 12,637 Total
About Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education: Raise Your Hand is a growing coalition of Chicago and Illinois public school parents, teachers and concerned citizens advocating for equitable and sustainable education funding, quality programs and instruction for all students and an increased parent voice in policy-making around education. www.ilraiseyourhand.org
.