The latest
Chicago Public Schools reports ‘stunning’ single-year enrollment drop, largest in over 2 decades
Chicago Public Schools enrollment has plummeted by 15,000 students this fall, the largest single-year drop in more than two decades, according to records released by the school system Friday.
Officials called the decrease from 355,000 students to 340,000 a “crisis” that was largely driven by a significant drop in new families enrolling this fall in preschool programs and elementary school.
The district released the enrollment figures, calculated on the 20th day of the school year in late September, along with a news release confirming all CPS students will remain in remote learning at the start of the second quarter of the academic year next month. CPS’ “goal” is to phase in preschool and special education cluster programs soon after because of enrollment and remote learning concerns.
“While we’re seeing similar trends across the country, the stunning decline among Black children enrolled in pre-K casts a somber light on how the pandemic and remote learning negatively impact our youngest learners,” LaTanya McDade, CPS’ chief education officer, said in a statement.
Among the largest drops this school year were 8,000 fewer students at district-run elementary schools and 6,000 fewer children in pre-K programs. High school and charter school enrollment remained even.
Read Nader Issa’s full story here.
News
8:11 a.m. Illinois’ largest ever daily COVID-19 caseload sparks fears worst is yet to come: ‘We’re headed for a new peak’
Public health officials Thursday announced 4,015 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Illinois, the highest number of new cases ever reported by the state throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The staggering caseload is one greater than the 4,014 cases confirmed by the Illinois Department of Public Health on May 12, when the state was weathering the worst days of the crisis.
But the latest tally “makes it look like we’re headed for a new peak,” according to one of Chicago’s top experts who has been at the front lines of the COVID-19 fight — an apex that could end up being even more deadly if people don’t take health guidelines seriously.
“Instead of this being a new peak, where the number of cases comes up and then goes back down again, I think what we’re seeing is more like a mountain: you go up, you come down halfway, then you keep climbing up,” University of Chicago epidemiologist Dr. Emily Landon said. “And this mountain looks even taller than the last one.”
Officials on Thursday also announced the virus has claimed 53 more lives across the state, topping the daily death toll of 49 from a day earlier that had marked the worst figure since late June.
Mitchell Armentrout has more details.
6:45 a.m. Open House Chicago 2020 moves online because of COVID, so pick a neighborhood — or two — and spend the day during
Open House Chicago, the annual event giving architecture enthusiasts a closer look at some of the area’s most treasured buildings, will go on this year despite the pandemic.
Still, the coronavirus has forced some changes.
The biggest change: people won’t be able to go inside the more than 100 sites featured this year. Instead, the festival has gone virtual, with a mobile app that the Chicago Architecture Center launched Wednesday.
Read the full story by Manny Ramos here.
New cases
Analysis & Commentary
8:12 a.m. You don’t need a sleeping bag to survive early voting lines, but a campstool — and a scarf — might come in handy
It took me two hours and seven minutes to early vote this week at Truman College in Uptown, only five minutes of which involved actually filling out the ballot.
The rest of the time was spent waiting outdoors in a long line that moved at a glacial pace, followed by a shorter wait indoors.
Yes, this is why I should have taken the advice to vote by mail, but I wasn’t ready to do that, and only my wife gets to say, ‘I told you so,’ because she really did tell me so, and the rest of you were just thinking it.
In my defense, I’m hardly alone.
At numerous early voting sites across the city on Wednesday, voters experienced similar delays as the first day of expanded early voting in all 50 wards coincided with warm, sunny fall weather.
If you’re going to vote in person in 2020, you’re going to need to bring your patience, your mask, some comfortable shoes and probably your mobile phone to keep you entertained.
And, oh yes, appropriate outerwear because you’re going to be waiting outdoors. The pandemic requires election officials to limit the number of people inside a polling place.
In certain extreme circumstances, I could even see a campstool and snacks coming in handy.
Read Mark Brown’s full column here.
7:30 a.m. A Cook County budget built to ‘weather the storm’ — but the rain had better be moving on
Since the pandemic first swept in, we have argued that it’s important for local governments to continue functioning as normally as possible.
That’s a tall order given how COVID-19 has driven up costs and decimated tax revenues. But a government that can’t provide essential services now — when those services are most needed — is failing in its basic responsibilities.
We’re encouraged, so far, by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed $6.9 billion county budget for 2021, presented to the public on Thursday.
Read the full editorial by the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board here.
