Download the entire report, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in Adobe Acrobat format.

In March 2001, NCBG completed its analysis of the Chicago Public Schools' 2002-2005 Capital Improvement Program (CIP), the five-year plan for fixing and modernizing our schools and building more classrooms. The good? CPS has completed about $2.3 billion in capital improvements since 1996, including a dozen elementary schools, three high schools, and 53 elementary school additions. The bad? CPS hasn't always lived up to its lofty promises. Three-quarters of all planned elementary school projects, for example, are unfunded, and $229 million worth of projects have disappeared without a trace from the CIP. The ugly? Chicago alone has $2.5 billion in unfunded school capital needs, and Illinois as a whole must come up with $9.2 billion to solve its school modernization crisis. Meanwhile, future National and state revenues to help local districts meet the burden are drying up.

The Chicago Public Schools have come a long way since Paul Vallas and Gery Chico took over the two top spots there in 1996. Decades of neglected repairs have been addressed at many schools, and some have been replaced entirely. Schools are being modernized to meet the science and technology needs of a 21st Century education. And for the first time in years, new classrooms have been built in Chicago to alleviate severe overcrowding in many schools. There’s no question that Chicago’s schools are much better off now than they were five years ago. This is what’s good.

But the massive building and repair program has also had its share of challenges. Some of the ambitious promises made when the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) was first unveiled haven’t come true. Many projects have been delayed, or disappeared from the CIP entirely. Parents, teachers, and principals still lack details about what exactly is planned for their schools, or when it will be completed. Hundreds of projects are listed in the CIP but have no funding, calling into question whether they will ever be done. This is what’s bad.

After four years of work on the Capital Improvement Program, CPS acknowledges that $2.5 billion worth of unfunded capital needs still remain. This $2.5 billion estimate only addresses today’s capital problems. It does not take into account the ongoing costs of maintenance, upkeep, expansion, and modernization of school facilities. The ability to use property tax revenues to issue new school construction and repair bonds is almost tapped out. The State’s infrastructure program – Illinois FIRST – has provided millions to help the cause, but it, too, is running out of funds. Bipartisan school construction legislation at the National level had enjoyed significant momentum and the aggressive backing of the President, but now is in jeopardy as the White House changes hands. Distressing questions exist about where Chicago will get the money to finish the job. This is what’s ugly.

This report looks at how far the Chicago Public Schools have come with its capital program since 1996: where it has succeeded, where it has failed, and what the future may hold. Finally, we present some suggestions for making the process better, and an assessment of where State and National school construction efforts stand.

Among the report’s key findings are:

The Good

Since 1996, CPS reports having completed approximately $2.3 billion worth of school improvements and new construction.
CPS has completed 489 major repair projects at a cost of over $598 million.
A dozen new elementary schools, three new high schools, and 53 elementary school additions have opened since 1996.
97 new classroom-construction projects are planned for the next five years at the elementary school levels, along with five new high schools and six additions to existing high schools.
CPS has been aggressive about seeking out what money is available beyond its local property tax base. CPS has captured $203 million in Illinois FIRST dollars and $14 million in National "Qualified Zone Academy Bonds," with more on the way. In addition, CPS has pursued changes to the State’s treatment of teacher’s pension funds that would bring another $1 billion into the capital program if passed, as well as attempted to tap into the City’s Tax Increment Financing program to fund school projects in certain neighborhoods.

The Bad

Many planned school improvements projects are unfunded. In fact, one-third of high school projects and three-quarters of planned elementary school projects are unfunded.
About $229 million worth of projects have disappeared without a trace from the CIP. More than half of these projects once were funded, but now have been cut from the capital plan without explanation.
Overcrowding remains a persistent problem. 36 percent of high schools and 32 percent of elementary schools are operating above their intended capacity, and many of them are severely overcrowded. Even more distressing, new elementary school additions are overcrowded again almost as soon as they open their doors. Of the 55 elementary school additions and six new schools that have been completed since 1996, 54 percent are already overcrowded again.
Not enough is being done to solve the high school overcrowding problem. In fact, just three of Chicago’s 10 most overcrowded high schools have any capacity additions planned, and none of these projects are funded.
Many elementary schools haven’t had their overcrowding problems addressed yet, either. In fact, 75 of the 149 overcrowded elementary schools – a full 50 percent – have no capacity additions planned.
CPS has been unclear about its plans for educational technology. Several generations of projects have come and gone from the CIP without clear evidence that they were completed. What is CPS really planning to do to make its schools ready for the 21st Century?

The Ugly

According to the National Education Association, Illinois needs $9.2 billion to meet all its school construction and repair needs.
CPS estimates that Chicago alone has $2.5 billion in unfunded capital needs for its schools.
Illinois FIRST risks running out of funds even before it expires in 2003. In fact, over half the funds allocated for school construction were spent in just the first two years of the five-year program.
National legislation is in jeopardy. After successful pilot initiatives sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and strong bipartisan support for a bill sponsored by Rangel and Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), the push for National legislation has slowed. While there is still significant support in Congress, President Bush’s education plan focuses a wide range of other issues, and has expressed no interest in National legislation to assist with local school construction and repair needs.
Despite the change in administrations, pressures exist in strong Republican states for help with school modernization. In fact, unmet capital need per student are actually highest in strong Republican states, and enrollment growth is also high in Republican areas of the country. This provides a ray of hope for those who want a National school modernization bill to pass.

Action Steps

Capital Planning:

In order to ensure that the Capital Improvement Program is as fair and efficient as possible, the Chicago Public Schools should:

Release the building assessments for each school facility.
Make public its demographic predictions for enrollment growth.
Share more detail about what is planned for each school and how much it will cost.
Publish a list of estimated costs for each type of project.
Detail why certain projects were dropped from the CIP and why others were delayed.
Release to the public a user-friendly explanation of where CPS stands in terms of raising the money it needs to complete the capital program.

State and National Funding:

Our elected officials outside of Chicago need to participate in the broader debate over school capital funding in the following ways:

Gov. Ryan and the Illinois General Assembly need to expand and extend Illinois FIRST or a similar school infrastructure program.
The State of Illinois should act this year on the CPS Pension Funding Proposal.
Illinois stakeholders should consider capital issues in the overall discussion of fair and adequate school funding.
President Bush and members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives should vote on a school construction bill in the first session of the 107th Congress.