(The Center Square) – Taxpayers are spending tens of thousands of dollars per student at public high schools in Chicago, and at two schools, the number is more than $100,000 per student. Leo Catholic High School on the city’s South Side, meanwhile, has achieved 100% graduation rates for over a decade at a fraction of the cost.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s Illinois Report Card, Safe Achieve Academy, a specialized-education school in the South Shore neighborhood, spent more than $130,000 per student in 2024. Safe Achieve was formerly known as Camelot Safe Academy School.
Simpson Academy High School for Young Women spent just over $100,00 per student. Simpson specializes in educating pregnant and parenting teens and providing support for young mothers. The school includes onsite child care, a health clinic and other services.
Douglass Academy High School on the West Side spent more than $93,000 per student. Douglass had about 35 students enrolled and a chronic absenteeism rate of 62%.
According to the Illinois Report Card, Chicago Public Schools had an overall chronic absenteeism rate of 40.8% in 2024. The chronic absenteeism rate for CPS teachers was also reported around 40% last year.
Chicago’s public schools on average spend $19,908 per student in taxpayer funds.
Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said the dollar numbers will likely rise when Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union agree to a new contract.
“Teachers are either going to get a 9% annual raise or a 12% annual raise. That’s what they’re fighting about,” Dabrowski told The Center Square.
CPS and CTU have been without a contract since June 30.
“It’s so expensive. Again, ordinary, everyday Illinoisans and Chicagoans are going to have to pay for this. It’s just become too much. It’s not fair,” Dabrowski said.
In Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, however, Leo has reported a 100% graduation rate since 2012. The school’s attendance rate has risen from 91% in 2021 to 96% last year.
Principal Shaka Rawls said there isn’t necessarily a secret formula.
“Educational systems and school systems need to be nimble enough to be able to meet the needs of their individual students, yet structured enough in order to prepare students for post-secondary success,” Rawls told The Center Square.
Tuition at Leo is $9,300 per year, and the school offers a $3,000 incentive to parents who perform volunteer duties.
“We don’t dis-involve the parents, we involve the community writ large. You’ll find dozens of organizations that’ll partner with us. You’ll find dozens upon dozens of parents that’ll partner with us. We believe in this kind of holistic approach that it takes not only our churches and faith-based organizations, but community-based organizations,” Rawls explained.
Rawls said it costs about $15,200 to educate a student at Leo, and philanthropic organizations, including Big Shoulders Fund, have stepped up to cover 80-90% of the costs.
Leo’s goal is to grow students who come in at or below grade level, Rawls said.
“In terms of growth, we’re one of the leading schools in the Catholic League in terms of what we are able to do, but we do have a variety of students who come in far below grade level. Our job is to help them reach their full potential academically as well as efficacy-wise,” Rawls said. “Not every student that comes out of Leo will be an academic all-star. We have those, but we also have students who come out of Leo self-confident, positive young African-American men, which we think is just as successful as scoring a 25 or a 27 on the (ACT).”
Many Illinois schools have faced criticism for lowering standards, but Rawls said Leo has not eased requirements.
“Once we teach the young men the rules of the game, they’ll be successful. I think that, sometimes, large bureaucratic structures inhibit those successes. At a small, nimble school like Leo, we’re able to pivot and make necessary arrangements so the individual child’s individual needs are met inside the building. That’s the secret sauce, if you will,” Rawls said.
