Is Chicago Public Schools running out of students or solutions?

Chicago Public Schools enrollment declining

 Chicago Public Schools just put out numbers that should make people pay attention.

CHICAGO - Chicago Public Schools is facing a long-term enrollment decline that could turn into a crisis for students if the city does not adapt to how schools are supported, according to a new report from education nonprofit Kids First Chicago.

CPS currently enrolls just over 316,000 students, down more than 122,000 from its peak in the early 2000s. The drop reflects fewer children being born in the city, fewer school-aged children living in Chicago and a growing number of families choosing options outside CPS.

The report argues the danger is not the smaller system itself, but what happens when schools shrink without a plan to protect student opportunities.

"What makes this a crisis is the lack of a serious plan for how to adapt to it," said Hal Woods, chief of policy at Kids First Chicago. "That leaves students in smaller schools with fewer opportunities and no clear path forward."

Why this matters now :

The trends shaping CPS are no longer theoretical. They are already changing classrooms, course offerings and extracurriculars across the city.

Between 2014 and 2023, the number of school-aged children living in Chicago fell by about 80,000. During that same period, CPS enrollment declined by roughly 18,000 students. A decade ago, about three out of every four Chicago students attended CPS. Today, that share is closer to seven out of ten.

At the same time, the city’s birth rate has dropped sharply. Chicago recorded more than 45,000 births in 2005. By 2023, that number had fallen to about 26,800. Smaller kindergarten classes today mean smaller middle and high school classes in the years ahead.

K-5 students once made up half of CPS enrollment. This school year, they account for about 42%. CPS enrolled about 20,000 kindergarteners this year, a 27% drop from a decade ago.

Where enrollment is falling:

The enrollment decline has not been evenly spread across the city.

Schools on the West and South sides of Chicago have seen the steepest losses, often tied to long-term population decline. On the Southwest Side, the McKinley Park network of 29 elementary schools has lost nearly 7,000 students since the 2015-16 school year. The Belmont Cragin-Austin network on the West Side has lost about 6,000 students over the same period.

In several of these networks, enrollment has fallen by more than one-third.

By contrast, many North and Central Side networks have seen far smaller drops, with some remaining relatively stable.

"When fewer children live in a community, schools in that community feel it first," Woods said.

Who CPS serves today:

Latino and Black students continue to make up the majority of CPS enrollment, though both groups have declined in recent years.

In 2015-16, Latino and Black students accounted for 85% of CPS students. This school year, they make up about 81%. Latino enrollment has fallen by nearly 7,000 students since its peak, while Black enrollment has dropped by about 2,900.

White, Asian and multiracial student populations have seen modest increases, mostly as a share of the total rather than large jumps in raw numbers.

About one in four CPS students is an English learner, and roughly seven in 10 students are considered economically disadvantaged.

Impact of smaller schools:

The report stresses that smaller schools are not automatically bad. Many students value close relationships with teachers who know their families and histories.

But as enrollment drops, schools face limits that students feel directly.

Fewer students can mean fewer electives, fewer advanced courses and fewer extracurriculars. Some high school seniors attend schools too small to field sports teams or sustain clubs, arts programs or multiple foreign language options. In some cases, students repeat the same elective year after year because no alternatives exist.

Fixed costs also remain even as enrollment falls, making schools more expensive to operate on a per-student basis.

"As schools get smaller and smaller, it can become more difficult to provide the full level of culture and opportunity you would want to," said Nelson Gerew, an education expert with The Chicago Public Education Fund, in earlier reporting.

Kids First Chicago's warning:

Kids First Chicago argues that closing or consolidating schools should not be treated as a budget fix.

The combined budgets of the city’s 10 most under-enrolled schools total about $30 million. CPS’ overall budget is roughly $10 billion, with a projected deficit of about $500 million next year. The report says closures alone will not solve those challenges.

Instead, the group calls for a student-centered approach that starts with listening to families and students and redesigning how smaller schools run. That could include sharing teachers across campuses, expanding access to advanced coursework or rethinking how enrichment programs are delivered.

What's next:

The demographic trends driving CPS enrollment are expected to continue. Fewer births, population shifts and family choice patterns are unlikely to reverse quickly.

Kids First Chicago is urging educators, policymakers and families to engage now, before shrinking schools lead to fewer opportunities for students.

The report calls for a coordinated plan that acknowledges a smaller system while ensuring students in every neighborhood still have access to strong academics, arts, extracurriculars and support services.