City Schools Graded "F" in Attendance, Report

" Chicago Public Schools fail to make the grade when it comes to attendance, according to a report that graded city schools with an “F” in that category.   Nearly 32,000 Chicago students in public elementary schools missed four weeks or more during the 2010-11 year, according to a Chicago Tribune report. That’s roughly one in eight students, which is why the report graded city schools so low.

Information for the report was based on internal attendance data focusing on excused and unexcused absences for about 247,000 elementary-level CPS students, Tribune reported.

Those numbers only scratch the surface of the problem because officials only count attendance for students who are actively enrolled, according to the report. Tribune reported thousands of students whose absences were not counted because they were enrolled late, pulled out early or lost time transferring between Chicago schools.

The report provides new insight into a school system plagued by turnovers and a strike, all in one year. Currently, the new CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has been working on a list of schools that will close. On Nov "

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