Chicago Public Schools will no longer be downgraded for chronic absenteeism
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IlliniJen
Chicago Public Schools just got another major break from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, schools will no longer be downgraded for chronic absenteeism, even though 40% of students miss 10% or more of school days without a valid excuse. Now students can skip class for protests and walkouts without it hurting their school’s rating.
This follows the state’s decision last year to lower proficiency cut scores on standardized tests, instantly inflating reported reading and math proficiency rates with zero actual improvement in student performance.
Ben Bradley claims this redesign of the school report card is not meant to lower standards and give more schools better grades. Claiming that removing penalties doesn’t lower standards is pure gaslighting.
If we lower standards enough, we can just declare every school a smashing success.
This is how Illinois pretends to improve education.