A Chicago nonprofit is putting serious money on the table to get kids back in class. A Better Chicago is pledging at least $10 million over the next five years to tackle chronic absenteeism in Chicago Public Schools through a new initiative called Every Day Counts. The effort will zero in on six neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides - Austin, Englewood, Garfield Park, South Lawndale, South Shore, and Woodlawn - where attendance has lagged. Organizers point to data showing that more than 40% of CPS students missed at least 10% of the 2024–25 school year, a pattern that can cost students months of learning.
What the funding will do
According to A Better Chicago, Every Day Counts will award grants to school–community partnerships that focus on prevention for elementary students and re‑engagement for high schoolers. Selected projects can receive up to $500,000 per year. The RFP launched in January with applications due Feb. 27 and awards expected by July. Grants will come with capacity‑building support, shared evaluation, and participation in a learning cohort designed to surface strategies that can be scaled if they prove effective.
The scale of the problem
As reported by the Chicago Sun‑Times, roughly 130,000 Chicago students missed the equivalent of nearly a month of school in 2024–25. Persistent absence patterns can add up to the equivalent of years of lost learning over a K–12 career. The Sun‑Times commentary from A Better Chicago leaders points to lingering pandemic disruption, growing mental‑health needs, community violence, and immigration‑related fears as key drivers of the attendance decline. School staff and community providers say those root causes mean attendance work has to combine classroom supports with services for housing, health, and safety.
Where the district stands
The district folded attendance goals into a five‑year plan approved in September 2024 that aims to bring chronic absenteeism closer to about 25%, according to WBEZ. Research from the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research suggests that school climate and strong student‑teacher relationships are among the most reliable levers to get students back in class. CPS officials have noted gains in some schools but say systemwide improvement will require deeper partnerships with community organizations and funders.
Timeline and who can apply
In its State of Our Youth report and RFP materials, A Better Chicago stresses that the initiative will prioritize evidence‑informed pilots led by community organizations in partnership with schools and will require an executed agreement with a school partner before awards are made. Grantees will join a shared‑learning cohort, report quarterly on implementation, and work with evaluation partners to track attendance outcomes. Applications for the inaugural cohort closed in February, with award decisions scheduled for July and funded projects set up as 12‑month grants with the potential for renewal based on performance.
Leaders say reversing Chicago’s attendance crisis will take citywide action, with schools, employers, faith leaders, and policymakers working together to remove barriers such as poverty, housing instability, and unmet mental‑health needs, as argued in the Sun‑Times commentary. As Every Day Counts moves from RFP to awards this summer, the real test will be whether those pilots can grow quickly enough to help the district hit its attendance goals.
