Sal Briones and Carmen Rodriguez, parents of a students at Grissom Elementary School on the Southside of Chicago spoke at a press conference held before the CPS Board Meeting Feb. 27, 2019. Multiple parents from several other Chicago Public Schools came to speak out against the oversize classrooms, deteriorating infrastructure, and lack of action.

Click here to view the Videos!

Click this report to see comparison of class sizes among several schools in the CPS system.

P4T analyzed class size data for the 2018-2019 school year provided to us by CPS. We compared the 2018 class sizes for each class in CPS to the guidelines in the Chicago Teacher Union/CPS collective bargaining agreement to see how the guidelines are and aren't being met. 

Chicago's teachers and CPS are negotiating a new contract. The Chicago Teachers Union’s contact proposals include important services and supports for our classrooms, while CPS is asking for a 7 percent pay cut and threatening massive layoffs. Since CPS is only required by state law to negotiate over pay and benefits, it falls on parents to make their voices heard and demand CPS address the needs of students, teachers and families during contract talks. Here's what parents and teachers are fighting for.

Reducing class size is one of most effective ways to improve student achievement. But CPS refuses to even address the issue and, thanks to school closings, student-based budgeting and other wrong-headed policies, class size is ballooning across the district. P4T analyzed class size data from Fall, 2014, the most recent data available and found that nearly one-third of CPS's youngest students attend classes in excess of guidelines on class size. Read the report here.