Blackburn and Presswood are two Black mothers in the middle of an intensifying debate about school choice, the system that allows Chicago parents to send their children to charters, magnets and selective enrollment schools, rather than be tethered to the school in their attendance boundary.
The Chicago Board of Education wants to undo that system. Leaders said it is built on a foundation of structural racism and makes inequality worse. But changing a system that some parents see as creating the only viable options for their children will be difficult and complicated. This is especially true in the Black community. CPS data shows that a third of Black students go to charter, selective enrollment or magnet schools — more than any other racial or ethnic group in the district.
Middle-class and upper-middle-class Black families in most urban cities, including Chicago, live in low-income neighborhoods far more often than white and Asian families of the same economic status, according to a Stanford study. School choice has provided a way for these Black families to escape the neighborhood schools that have historically suffered from disinvestment.
Some city leaders and school board members, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, know this conundrum well. They are among the many that trek across the city to take their children to either selective enrollment or magnet schools.
The stories of Blackburn and Presswood illuminate this complicated issue. It is not only about how money is allocated, they say, but also about how parents and students are treated and feel about their schools.