catalyst-chicago.org

After leaving high school in 2007, nearly 40 percent of students with disabilities are unemployed and not enrolled in any type of college or vocational program a year later.

These are the findings of a post-secondary survey conducted by the Illinois State Board Education and analyzed by Access Living. The report released on Nov. 12 surveyed 209 disabled students who exited CPS; some had graduated, while others had dropped out. The students surveyed had a mix of disabilities, though they were slightly more likely to have learning disabilities than the district’s population as a whole.

[A Spanish-language version of this story was published in the Nov. 25 edition of Extra newspaper.]

Kenneth Green knew he wanted to send his daughter to a magnet school, Chicago’s oldest schools of choice. He spent hours enveloped in research and touring campuses, trying to find the right combination of high academic expectations and a diverse racial mix.

Last year, students at Robeson High School in Englewood had one of the district’s worst attendance rates. But somehow, on the first day of school this year, attendance was more than perfect.

This unlikely phenomenon is the result of how Chicago Public Schools calculates first-day attendance. Instead of counting the number of students who actually show up out of those who were assigned or enrolled to a school, the district compares them to enrollment estimates made in February.

No-shows do not count against a school’s attendance at all.