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The Chicago Board of Education voted to renew contracts with 21 charter schools Thursday after months of delay.
Historically, the school board votes to renew charters in January. But this year, the vote was pushed back several times, leaving families and staff with uncertainty as the end of the school year approached.
The board also approved a resolution, first proposed last month, that seeks to impose new requirements and oversight on charter school operators. The resolution was approved with 15 members voting in favor, none against, and five abstaining. There was a brief but unsuccessful attempt by six members to remove a section that says state lawmakers should make changes to the law governing the privately run public schools, including barring operators from closing schools during the term of their agreement with the local school district.
This became an issue late last year when the Acero charter school network announced plans to shut down seven of its 14 campuses, affecting 2,000 students and 500 staff. After an outcry, the school board voted to save five of the charter schools and allow two to close.
Jodie Cantrell, chief public affairs officer at the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, called the charter accountability resolution a “backroom deal” pushed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
“This resolution is not about students. It’s not about equity, quality or accountability. It’s about power and control,” Cantrell said, before asking board members to vote no on the resolution.
But Karen Zaccor, an appointed board member for District 4 and a retired CTU teacher who cosponsored the resolution, said at a union-led press conference before the meeting that it prioritizes the rights of families, students, and workers at charter schools.
“Our families at all schools have a right to send their children to school believing that school will stay open to serve their children throughout their school years,” Zaccor said.
The district has not recommended closures for any other charter schools up for renewal this year. However, one operator, ASPIRA, is voluntarily closing its Haugan Middle School campus. And another operator, North Lawndale College Prep, will move its Collins campus from the Collins Academy building to instead share a facility with their original Christiana campus in the same neighborhood. CPS recommended NLCP get a three-year renewal, but during the meeting the school board voted to grant the school a four-year term.
The school board approved two-year renewals for 11 campuses. Another three will be renewed for three years. The remaining seven will receive four-year renewals — with four of those run by charter network Perspectives.
The district outlined several concerns with each of the schools up for renewals and outlined for more those recommended for two-year renewals. Those concerns included academic performance, how the school serves students with disabilities, and accurate teacher licensure information. It asked those schools to address those concerns during their renewal terms.
Both campuses of Urban Prep are subject to a long list of conditions, including a requirement to submit cash flow statements to the district on the first of every month for the two-year period, and a requirement that the operators submit a plan for a “reformed governance structure” by July 31, 2025.
CPS attempted to take over both of Urban Prep’s campuses back in 2022 after concerns over financial mismanagement, not properly serving students with disabilities, and allegations of sexual misconduct against the charter network’s founder and CEO Tim King. King has denied all allegations.
The school board voted to revoke Urban Prep’s charter in 2022, but a legal battle ensued with an initial court ruling in favor of Urban Prep and an appeals court siding with CPS. Despite the district’s success in appellate court, the charter was renewed last summer and the schools remained open. This school year, the Bronzeville campus enrolled 143 students and the Englewood campus had 87.
Both schools will remain open for two more years under the renewals approved Thursday. Earlier this year, WBEZ reported that federal authorities are investigating Urban Prep.
The issues at Urban Prep and Acero have attracted scrutiny and criticism from the Chicago Teachers Union, which represents teachers at both campuses. The union released a lengthy report last week detailing many of its concerns and demanding more charter school oversight.
Charter operators and supporters have urged the school board to provide high-performing networks with longer term renewals. State law now allows the district to grant charters up to 10-year agreements. But the longest agreement CPS has ever awarded a charter school was seven years.
Reema Amin contributed reporting.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
