School Achievement (or lack there of) in Baltimore and Chicago

Chicago Schools -- High Graduation Rates and Low Proficiency

Baltimore City, Prince George's County, and Baltimore County

In total, at those 46 schools, about 3,300 students took the state math exams last school year. And of those students 31 scored proficient.

Where are the 46 schools located? Baltimore City has 15. Followed by Prince George’s County with nine and Baltimore County with seven.

“It is embarrassing when you have less than one percent of a student body that is testing proficient in math – especially from a state that is bragging about spending more money on education,” stated Williams.

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/zero-students-math-proficient-maryland-mcap

Key Test Score Highlights: 

• Math Proficiency: 

  Baltimore City saw a rise from 10.2% proficient in math (2024) to 12.6% proficient in 2025.
• English Language Arts (ELA) Proficiency: 

  The proficiency rate in ELA also increased, with 50.8% of students scoring proficient in 2025, up from 48.4% in 2024.

AI overview 9/18/2025

In 2023, Baltimore City Schools spent $21,014 per student 

 spent https://dls.maryland.gov/pubs/prod/NoPblTabPDF/2024PubSchoolFundingFY23PerPupil.pdf

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BALTIMORE: Only seven percent of third through eighth graders in Baltimore tested proficient in math, meaning 93 percent could not do math at grade level. In 23 of the 150 Baltimore schools, zero students tested proficient in math. The list of 23 schools included 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three Middle/High schools, and two Elemen-tary/Middle schools.  It should be noted that another 20 Baltimore City schools had just one or two students test proficient in math. 

CHICAGO: Feb 2023:  Based on data from the Illinois State Board of Education, no student can do math at grade level in 53 Illinois schools. Of the 53 Illinois schools, 33 schools are in Chicago. The same data identifies 30 schools where not a single student can read at grade level; 22 are Chicago schools. Sadly, there is one Chicago high school where not even one student is proficient in math or reading. The school is in the Little Village section of Chicago, which is plagued by gang violence.

There was some progress in the 2022 school year but still only 25.9% of Chicago 3rd to 8th grade students were proficient in reading and 17.9% in math.  The proficiency rates are below those for the 2019 school year -- 27.3% in reading and 23.6% in math.   In 2022, just 19% of low-income students were proficient in reading and 11% in math.