Black Students Face Continuing Challenges in Chicago Public Schools |…

Black student enrollment in Chicago Public Schools has been on a steady decline since the 1990s in parallel with the decline in Chicago’s Black population overall. Data has shown that Black students are disproportionately subject to discipline, underrepresented in the city’s top-rated high schools and have to travel the farthest of any demographic group to get to school.

Dar’tavous Dorsey, director of partnerships and community engagement with the University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs, said the declining Black enrollment in CPS reflects how the students he works with feel disengaged from and devalued by the district. He points to safety worries and culturally disconnected approaches to education as barriers to improvement.

“Safety — it’s not just leaving home and the transition to a school, but then also in the building, what does that look like?” Dorsey said. “It also is education. … They are two to three years behind in the academic component. So how…