Only 17% of Chicago 8th Graders Read at Grade Level

The education secretary was named Wensday, Arne Duncan, ran the Chicago public school system. Everybody applauded, "Well, great, why, fabulous appointment, Arne Duncan ran the Chicago public schools, well, I hope he can do for America what he did for Illinois and Chicago." Well, only 17% of eighth graders -- one example here -- can read at that level in Chicago schools overseen by Arne Duncan, the Obama education secretary designee. "In 2007, only 17 percent of eighth graders tested at or above grade level in reading in Chicago Public Schools -- the school system administered by Arne Duncan since 2001. Students in eighth grade are those most likely to have been in the Chicago system for a majority of Duncan's tenure. CNSNews.com used the scores for these students to best determine the results of Duncan's administration. ... In math, Chicago Public Schools’ average score increased from 254 in 2003 to 260 in 2007. The national average for 2007 was 280. Seventy-five percent of Chicago students scored below 283 in the math assessment."

Now, "Nationally, Chicago is the third largest school district with over 408,000 students. Its budget for 2007-2008 was $4.6 billion, according to information released by Chicago Public Schools. $862 million of that was supplied by the federal government." And so for this money, Chicago is lagging way behind, 17% of eighth graders can read at that level.