DOWNTOWN — Despite the threatened chaos of school closings, starting the school year before Labor Day, and hot weather, first-day class attendance was up this year over last, official say.
Chicago Public Schools released figures Thursday showing that first-day attendance on Monday was 93.5 percent — up 1.2 percent from last year.
According to the Mayor's Office, Monday's rate topped the national standard of excellence of 92-93 percent set by the No Child Left Behind Act.
According to CPS figures, the district has 403,000 students at 681 schools.
The first day of school is one of the days set to establish state funding for districts. Wednesday's CPS boycott — 100 students marched on City Hall to demand that the CPS board become an elected body — did not fall on a day critical to state funding.
