Leadership Message
Pedro Martinez
Chief Executive Officer
Bogdana Chkoumbova
Chief Education Officer
A Note From CPS Leadership
Over the past two decades, CPS has made remarkable progress in helping our students reach new heights — from rising Freshman On-Track rates, rising graduation rates, and record amounts of scholarships awarded. And in March of 2019, CPS released an ambitious Five-Year Vision to build on that success.
Less than a year later, however, our world and our District were turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid trauma, uncertainty, and disruptions, our students and staff continued to achieve and persevere. But despite their resiliency, these past several years have deeply impacted our students academically, socially, and emotionally, and they have laid bare some of the deepest challenges in our society that existed long before the pandemic: economic inequality, mental health issues, racial injustice, and others.
Our charge is not only to recover the ground lost during the pandemic but to reimagine how our District can better meet the needs of our city and its children for years to come.
That is the purpose of this Blueprint — to outline how we are responding to challenges in the immediate term and how we are engaging our communities to co-create structural solutions to the long-standing opportunity gaps across our District.
We know that progress does not happen overnight, and it does not happen by accident. It happens because we continually work to improve the education and support we provide to Chicago’s children; because we strategically invest resources in the places where they are most needed; and because of the effort put in day in and day out by our families and staff, going above and beyond to help our students grow and thrive.
We are inspired every day by the talent and tenacity of our students; the commitment and expertise of our educators; and the passion and dedication of our parents, families, and communities. Let’s dream big and build the path forward, together.