Non-District School Management

Update Regarding Charter and Contract Schools

October 14, 2025

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is committed to making sure every student learns in a strong, stable, and supportive school environment. Like many school systems across the country, CPS is facing a number of challenges that affect all schools, including district-managed, contract, and charter schools. These challenges include rising operational costs, funding challenges, enrollment shifts, and aging facilities.

In some cases, these challenges have led charter schools to make the difficult decision to cease operations. CPS recognizes that such transitions can be disruptive for students, families, and staff, and remains deeply committed to ensuring stability, transparency, and partnership throughout the process so that every student and family continues to thrive.

We want to ensure our school communities and stakeholders understand that charter schools operate under fundamentally different legal and operational structures than district-managed schools. As a result, it is not practically or operationally feasible to “absorb” a charter school into the CPS portfolio in its entirety after a charter school decides to cease operations.

Instead, it involves the dissolution of the charter entity, as governed by Article 27A of the Illinois School Code, and the creation of a new district-managed school under Article 34. This distinction is critical to understanding both the process and its implications.

How Charter Schools Differ from District-Managed Schools

While both charter and district-managed schools serve CPS students and families, they operate under different articles of the Illinois school code. As a result, charter and district-managed schools have different policies, structures, and procedures. Below are a few examples of the differences:

• Staffing: Teachers and staff in CPS district-managed schools are employed directly by the District and must meet state licensure requirements, meaning holding valid Illinois teaching or administrative credentials, comply with District policies, city residency requirements (all CPS employees must reside in the City of Chicago), and collective bargaining agreements.
  
  By contrast, charter school teachers and staff are employed directly by their individual charter organizations. State law allows charters more flexibility in staffing and teaching credentials. Charter employees do not need to comply with District policies. Instead, they are governed by the policies set by their employer, do not have to reside within city limits, and if unionized, are covered by a collective bargaining agreement outside of CPS.
• Governance: Charter schools are overseen by independent, non-profit governing boards, governed by contractual agreements with the Chicago Board of Education and Article 27A of the Illinois School Code, unlike district-managed schools. Transitioning a charter to a district-managed model dissolves this governance structure and places the school under the full oversight of the Chicago Board of Education.
• Real Estate: The possibility of “absorbing” a charter school is also complicated by the question of ownership of the school building. CPS must carefully consider its ability to undertake a new lease or purchase a new building from a financial, legal, and operational perspective. Many of the sites leased by charter schools are located within former Catholic schools, and the facilities have significant deferred maintenance, are non-compliant with ADA accessibility standards, and require significant capital investment — meaning that CPS is investing public dollars into a building it does not own to meet its standards. This further exacerbates the unfunded capital needs we already have across the District. This process of entering into a new lease or acquiring a new property requires significant due diligence in order to assess the state of the facility, any necessary capital investments, and how acquiring a new asset will impact CPS’ existing real estate portfolio. If the property has already been sold, CPS may not have the option to acquire the building.
• Academic Program and Curriculum: All schools in CPS are held to high academic standards and are accountable for helping students meet the Illinois Learning Standards. However, the way schools design academic policies and deliver instruction can differ.
  
  District-managed schools follow CPS academic policies and approved curriculum
  frameworks that align with state standards and District priorities.
  
  Charter schools, on the other hand, have greater flexibility and autonomy to design their own academic policies and curriculum frameworks that align with state standards, reflect their unique mission and priorities, and meet the accountability expectations outlined in their performance agreements with CPS.

Understanding these differences helps explain why transitions from a charter school to a district-managed school are not merely administrative - they reflect two distinct legal and operational systems. Thus, it does not allow the charter school to be “absorbed whole” as a district-managed school.

When a charter operator decides to cease operations, each situation is unique and must be handled accordingly. In each of these situations, CPS‘s primary responsibility is to the needs of the students and their families.

Before determining next steps, CPS carefully reviews multiple factors.. These include, but are not limited to:

• The academic and social-emotional needs of current students
• Available school options nearby that can serve students
• Facility conditions and long-term sustainability
• Staffing, operational, and community continuity
• Legal and financial obligations related to the school’s charter agreement and applicable laws
• Insights from previous school transitions and wind-downs that inform how CPS improves communication, family engagement, and planning with each new situation

CPS understands that school transitions can bring questions and uncertainty. Our first priority is always our students and families who support them. In every transition, our goal is to minimize disruption, maintain educational quality, and ensure that families remain informed and supported every step of the way.