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District profile / Illinois

Chicago Public Schools

Chicago, Illinois · Superintendent: Dr. Janice K Jackson · #1 of 376 Illinois districts by enrollment

Compare with peers
324,130
Students
2024-25 school year
643
Schools
2024-25 school year
$18,216
Spending per student
FY2020-21 · 8% above the Illinois median
13.8
Students per teacher
2024-25 · Illinois median 13.6

Chicago Public Schools is a public school district based in Chicago, Illinois, serving 324,130 students in 643 schools. By enrollment it ranks #1 of the 376 Illinois districts with 1,000 or more students, making it the largest in the state. Its schools average 504 students each, about the same as the Illinois median of 465. Its superintendent is Dr. Janice K Jackson. It spends about $18,216 per student on day-to-day operations, 8% more than the Illinois median. It has roughly 13.8 students per teacher. We've matched 124 news stories to the district.

How Chicago compares

ChicagoIllinois median, districts with 1,000+ students
Spending per student$18,216
Illinois median $16,815 · 8% above · FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$12,088
Illinois median $10,013 · 21% above · FY2020-21
Students per school504
Illinois median 465 · 8% above · 2024-25
Students per teacher13.8
Illinois median 13.6 · about the same · 2024-25
Students per counselor355
Illinois median 490 · 28% below · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$7.45 billion in revenue · FY2020-21
Federal 15%State 33%Local 52%
MeasureChicagoIllinois medianYear
Current spending per student$18,216$16,815FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student$12,088$10,013FY2020-21
Total spending$7.48 billionn/aFY2020-21
Total revenue$7.45 billionn/aFY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)23,532n/a2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)38,414n/a2024-25
Students per teacher13.813.62024-25
Students per counselor3554902024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The Illinois median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

Moves tracker →

Dr. Janice K Jackson

Superintendent, Chicago Public Schools

Source: Illinois State Board of Education, Directory of Educational Entities, checked 2026-11-09. Report a change

In the news

124 stories matched

Peer districts in Illinois

Compare side by side →
DistrictStudentsSchoolsSpending per studentStudents per teacherRank
Chicago Public SchoolsChicago · this district324,130643$18,21613.8#1
School District U-46Elgin34,03655$16,40614.4#2
Rockford School District 205Rockford28,46746$16,65417.5#3
Indian Prairie CUSD 204Aurora26,10834$15,58314.5#4
Plainfield School District 202Plainfield24,55631$16,14614.5#5

Similar-size districts nationally

DistrictStudentsSpending per studentStudents per teacher
Los Angeles UnifiedLos Angeles, CA408,026$18,18019.2
Miami-Dade County Public SchoolsMiami, FL333,233$11,23119.4
Clark County School DistrictLas Vegas, NV306,038$10,11818.6
Broward County Public SchoolsFort Lauderdale, FL243,553$10,36221.7

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-il-chicago-public-schools