Exclusive: Mayor Johnson praises CPS model questioned by study

CHICAGO - A candid Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson acknowledged the rocky road he traveled that led to a tentative contract agreement in an exclusive one-on-one interview Wednesday afternoon.

He touted new investments in struggling neighborhood schools—but will they turn around their fortunes?

What we know:

The mayor praised the $1.5 billion, four-year contract deal that includes 4-5% raises for teachers, smaller classroom sizes, and more classroom prep time.

"I brought people together. We have labor peace, we have some real wins for Black history. It protects Black history, it protects LGBTQ students, it protects veteran teachers—overwhelmingly women," the mayor said in an exclusive interview with FOX 32 Chicago political editor Paris Schutz.

But he singled out one other provision: an investment to expand the number of "sustainable community schools" that provide wraparound social services, from 20 to 70.

"This is where schools work with the neighborhood to secure additional resources to respond to the unique needs of that particular school," Johnson said.

The other side:

These schools have been some of the poorest performing in the district, according to a study by the libertarian-leaning Illinois Policy Institute, based on data from the State Board of Education.

"On average, they have the worst reading scores, the worst math scores, the highest absenteeism rate, the lowest graduation rates, the highest drop rates, and they cost more per pupil," said Illinois Policy Institute senior director Mailee Smith.

Mayor Johnson touted the South Side's Dyett High School as a sustainable community school success story, especially considering its recent boys' basketball state championship. But the IPI’s study shows Dyett has one of the poorest outcomes of all CPS high schools, with only 4.5% of students reading at grade level and less than 1% at grade level in math. Additionally, 70% of students experience chronic absenteeism. Johnson says the study is wrong.

"Of course, you’re going to have a right-wing extreme group that wants to minimize the progress for poor children. Here’s what I’m committed to doing: to make it that every child has access to a local community school," Johnson said.

But Smith worries the expanded investment in sustainable community schools shows little promise of paying off.

"This is adding services, adding staff, it’s adding services, and that’s going to drive up the costs of these schools without Chicagoans getting something in return," Smith said.

What's next:

Chicago Teachers Union members are expected to complete their vote to ratify the new contract by next Monday.

See the full interview with Mayor Johnson and Paris Schutz here.