Should we just dump the worthless Chicago public schools and start over? (Column by Cecil)

Factual Questions
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Part the First: http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100527.php
Part the Second: http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100603.php

As you mention in these two fine columns, as more middle-class families send their children to their neighborhood schools instead of magnet, charter or private schools, low income students become a smaller percentage of the student body. This presents a problem for the schools I hadn’t considered until it happened to us: school funding from the state and feds goes down and the school doesn’t have the funds to keep those improvements going.

Apparently, as described to us at a recent meeting for Waters school (mentioned in the columns), the state and feds give more money per pupil for low income students than not-low-income students. While this makes sense while you have lots of low income students, Waters is now facing budget problems because they now have as many heads in the class, but less money coming in per head than they did four years ago.

Waters’ ingenious solution, as I mentioned in a recent thread, is to make up these budgetary shortfalls with parent generated funds. But these aren’t the bakesales of yesteryear. They’re elaborate fundraising events, with donations from local businesses and tens of thousands of dollars raised each year from parents and community members. They’re also asking kindergarten parents to “donate” a very specific sum of money monthly or annually so they can keep a full day program instead of the half day CPS wants us to have. They’re very, very careful not to call this “tuition”, and all the funds are gathered by a parent organization that’s a not-for-profit, but it’s a bit of a legal charade, if you ask me. It’s the best option of the options we have, but it’s still asking parents to pay out of pocket for public schooling.

And I worry. Of course, I’m going to pay what I need to for my daughter to get a good education. But this is another band-aid. It doesn’t address the true problems of school budgets, from bloated administrative costs to property taxes that don’t accurately meet school need.

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Moved to Straight Dope Chicago.

Title modified to indicate a Cecil column response.

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Thanks, Rico!

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Interesting you bring this up - Cecil decided to write one last column addressing the point you raise (someone else wrote in with a question along these lines), then he’s going to shut up about the subject for a while. Short version: improving one local school obviously does nothing to deal with larger questions like funding, but indirectly it’s gotta help. Meanwhile, you’ve got your kid in what I’m told is a very good school the neighborhood has really gotten behind. At some point, assuming you live in-boundary, she’ll be able to walk to school, her friends will mostly live in the neighborhood (meaning you won’t have to drive constantly to play dates), the school will boost the property values (not to be crass, but this is no small consideration), and you’ll be able to enjoy a combination virtually unknown in Chicago before now - being within walking distance of good schools AND the urban amenities such as good restaurants, where someday your kid can take you on Father’s Day. I confess to being an uncomplicated soul, but it’s enough for me.

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Ed: You need to re-number the items in that (otherwise excellent) article. You’ve got two number fours:

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Argh. Fixed. Thanks.