Chicago Public Schools announced it would begin transferring students from ASPIRA Business & Finance and Early College high schools last month. District officials said ASPIRA ran out of funding to finish the school year, despite receiving $2.55 million in advances from CPS since November.<\/p>\n
As a charter network, ASPIRA schools are overseen by an independent board but receive public funding and operate under contract with CPS.<\/p>\n
The back-and-forth between ASPIRA leadership and CPS officials has sparked debates<\/a> about charter funding, and raised questions about the stability of the sector as Chicago\u2019s school-aged population continues to decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen charter operators suddenly close their doors, students, staff and taxpayers have to hold their bags,\u201d interim CPS CEO Macquline King said at Thursday\u2019s board meeting. \u201cThis disruption is traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n Both high schools, which are predominantly Latino and low-income, enrolled about 570 students at the start of the year.<\/p>\n Without additional funding \u2014 which CPS said it legally can\u2019t provide \u2014 ASPIRA had no clear path forward, according to the district. Since the fall, the network had repeatedly come close to missing payroll. CPS stepped in with extra funds to keep ASPIRA afloat, but officials said the district was nearing a state-mandated funding cap.<\/p>\n Staring down the red, ASPIRA issued layoff notices to all staff, effective in April. But despite its dwindling funding, the operator had refused to self-close.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been difficult, and so frustrating,\u201d said Guadalupe Galvan, whose 17-year daughter recently transferred from ASPIRA Early College to Schurz. \u201cIt was all uncertain. We just didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement last week, a district spokesperson blasted the network for \u201csystemic fiscal mismanagement and a refusal to engage in a transparent dialogue.\u201d ASPIRA has also not provided required financial documents, including payroll records and monthly cash flow statements, according to CPS.<\/p>\n \u201cBy providing conflicting and inaccurate information, the operator has created an environment of confusion and fear rather than prioritizing student welfare,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n ASPIRA leadership, meanwhile, has attributed the network\u2019s financial woes to declining enrollment, pointing to the per-student funding gap between charters and district-run schools. In a letter to the board Wednesday, ASPIRA CEO Edgar Lopez insisted that the network has taken \u201cconcrete steps\u201d to remedy its finances.<\/p>\n \u201cWe respectfully believe that these challenges are actively being addressed and are not indicative of an immediate inability to operate safely or support students in the near term,\u201d Lopez wrote.<\/p>\n But the CPS spokesperson said ASPIRA leadership has \u201cfailed to rectify its fiscal instability.\u201d King told the board roughly 75% of ASPIRA students have already transferred to district-run schools.<\/p>\n Citing state law, the district had previously said it could not revoke a charter until the end of the school year. A CPS spokesperson did not directly address a question on what prompted the reversal, but said in a statement that the district \u201cmust step in immediately to ensure educational continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018An element of grief\u2019<\/p>\n Dozens of ASPIRA families filed into the auditorium at Schurz Wednesday, greeted by the school\u2019s smiling welcoming team of students and staff. The halls were lined with colorful tables displaying information on sports, clubs and course offerings.<\/p>\n Moran acknowledged the challenges facing the school\u2019s newest students.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an element of grief. They miss their teachers, their routines, maybe their friends that weren\u2019t able to make it here, and that are at other schools,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of apprehension amongst the seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n To ease the transfer process, CPS officials said the district is immediately transferring student academic records, waiving student fees, assisting with transportation and offering tutoring and mental health support.<\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoy having new people, helping them around the school, showing them their classes, helping them with their work if they need help,\u201d said senior Yaraliz Torres, 18, who is part of the Schurz welcoming team. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s pretty fun having new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n ASPIRA parent Reyna Escobar and her son, 18-year-old Jonathan, approached each table at the event to take flyers. Escobar said the past month has been difficult because of conflicting information from ASPIRA leadership.<\/p>\n \u201c(ASPIRA) said the school might close, but why? What they were telling us wasn\u2019t clear,\u201d Escobar said in Spanish. \u201cIt was really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Her son chose Schurz because most of his friends from ASPIRA Business & Finance transferred there. He called it \u201cheartbreaking\u201d to leave his former school, but noted it has been a smooth transition to Schurz so far.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re offering us a lot of help,\u201d Escobar said. \u201cThe teachers are friendly, the principal, thank God, is bilingual \u2026 and they\u2019re making sure (students) get through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Carl Schurz High School principal Heidy Moran heard that the district was moving students out of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":667539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[282174,282176,282175,18728,960,36515,16742,5386,1818],"class_list":["post-667538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-aspira","tag-aspira-chicago","tag-aspira-network","tag-charter-schools","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-board-of-education","tag-chicago-public-schools","tag-il","tag-illinois"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116257688691624166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Schurz](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-aspira-charter-revoked006.jpg\")
Schurz High School Principal Heidy Moran chats on the gym floor during a school welcoming event for ASPIRA students who have recently transferred to Schurz, March 18, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-L-aspira-charter-revoked002.jpg\")
Jonathan Escobar, 18, and his mother, Reyna, talk with students representing the bilingual club as Schurz High School hosts a welcoming event for ASPIRA students who have recently transferred to Schurz, March 18, 2026. Escobar has made the transition to Schurz from ASPIRA Business & Finance High School. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n