Overcrowding in the Chicago Public Schools remains a large problem. Overcrowded classrooms lead to huge class sizes and poor conditions for learning. In Chicago, while we have built 15 new schools and 30 additions since 1997, it is clear that CPS has not been able to keep up with many of our booming neighborhoods leading to overcrowded schools. In fact, 31% of our elementary schools are overcrowded, and 22% of our high schools are overcrowded. This means that approximately 161,419 Chicago students are attending overcrowded schools (37% of the total student body)! The Chicago Public Schools have already spent over $2.4 billion for school construction and repairs, but despite these record accomplishments, overcrowding remains a problem at both the high school and elementary school levels.

The Chicago Public Schools determines whether a school is overcrowded by dividing the number of students in a school (the enrollment) by the number of students that school can hold (the design capacity). An elementary school is considered overcrowded if its enrollment is 80 percent or more of the design capacity.

Elementary School Overcrowding

During the 2001-2002 school year, 152 Chicago elementary schools were overcrowded (31%). In other words 128,198 elementary school students had to learn in overcrowded schools. Of these 152 overcrowded schools, 54 elementary schools were severely overcrowded, meaning that they operated at more than 100% of their design capacity, and 98 were overcrowded. See a list of overcrowded elementary schools.

More elementary schools are overcrowded than ever before in Chicago. After elementary school enrollment has declined for four years since the 1996-97 school year (when 155 elementary schools were overcrowded), overcrowding is now soaring to record levels. Despite investments in more classroom space, CPS is not keeping up with rising enrollment. In fact, new additions are filling up almost as soon as they open their doors. Of the 45 new schools or additions that have been built since 1997, 27% (12 schools) are already overcrowded again.

Many of the overcrowding trends are geographical. 56 overcrowded elementary schools are on the City’s Southwest side, 32 on the Northwest side, and 18 on the South side, the same regions where high school overcrowding is most prevalent. In fact, the Southwest side has 3 times as many overcrowded buildings as the South side.

High School Overcrowding

During the 2001-2002 school year, 19 Chicago high schools were overcrowded (22%). This means that 33,221 high school students had to learn in overcrowded schools. After declining steadily since 1996, high school enrollments are beginning to rise again. In the past, NCBG suspected that enrollments were dropping due to factors that influence high school enrollments from year to year (such as lower birthrates, dropouts, people moving out of the City or switching to private schools, etc.). Judging by the recent increase in overcrowding, it appears those suspicions were true. If new construction was decreasing overcrowding, overcrowding should be even lower. However, the number of overcrowded high schools has inched up 4% from the 2000-2001 school year, and that's after building 3 new high schools, and completing 2 additions since 1996. See a list of overcrowded high schools

Many of the overcrowding trends are geographical. 8overcrowded high schools are on the City’s Southwest side and 6 on the Northwest Side, the same regions where elementary overcrowding is most prevalent. The Southwest side has 8 times as many overcrowded high schools than the West, South, and Far South sides. Although CPS offers schools of choice and specialty programs, many high schools continue to cater to neighborhood schools. Since neighborhood trends and demographics often influence the school population, NCBG encourages CPS to be better planners so that, for example, funding will be available to build enough new schools to relieve the overcrowding in these neighborhoods.

Read NCBG’s 1999 Report, Rebuilding Our Schools Brick By Brick.

Is Your School Overcrowded?

Parents, teachers, and community members need and have a right to know whether their school is overcrowded, and, if so, how overcrowded it is. (The terminology can be confusing. An annex is a freestanding building containing fewer than 12 classrooms. An addition is a connected building that generally contains more than 12 rooms. A modular unit is a temporary building to provide a short-term fix to overcrowding.) CPS has stopped building new annexes.

You can determine if your child's school is overcrowded by asking your principal, Local School Council member, or CPS regional office for the "design capacity" of your school building (the number of students that the building was meant to hold) and the current enrollment. Then, divide the enrollment by the design capacity. For example, if your school's enrollment is 900 students, and the design capacity is 1000, your school is operating at 90 percent of its design capacity. Generally, CPS considers a school to be overcrowded if it is operating at 80 percent or more of its intended design.

Overcrowded Chicago elementary schools
Overcrowded Chicago high schools