History of education in Chicago covers the schools of the city since the 1830s. It includes all levels as well as public, private and parochial schools. For the recent history since the 1970s see Chicago Public Schools
19th century
According to John L. Rury, the first small private schools were established as Chicago began to expand in the late 1830s. Eliza Chappell was probably the city's first public school teacher, but most teachers were young men from New England. All the schools were makeshift with rudimentary facilities that served only a fraction of the city's children. As late as the 1860s one teacher would supervise classes numbering a hundred or more, with his students ranging in age from 4 to 17. Schoolhouses were adapted from existing structures. When Chicago received its charter in 1837, volunteer examiners were appointed to oversee the schools, but funding remained meager. In 1845, an inspector reported schools housed in temporary quarters, crowded, poorly equipped, and foul-smelling. The first public school building was erected in 1845 and ridiculed as “Miltimore's Folly,” after a teacher who had suggested its necessity. In 1848, Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth argued the urgent need for a better public school system. The city council agreed. The mayor's plea reflected his experience as a former teacher, and was designed to attract productive citizens. By 1850, less than a fifth of eligible children were enrolled in public schools. Larger numbers attended private and parochial schools, but thousands did not enroll at all, particularly older children. Public school classes remained large, often conducted in poorly maintained rooms and with inadequate materials. Parents who could afford better education usually hired private tutors.John L. Rury, "Schools and Education" in Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004). Chicago's population expanded with tens of thousands of new arrivals annually from the East and from Europe. In 1835 the state legislature authorized a public school system with taxpayer financing, and the city's 1837 charter strengthened the scaffolding. Chicago rapidly opened public elementary schools, for grades 1–8. By 1848 there were 8 teachers and 818 students. John Clark Dore, a Boston teacher and principal, became Chicago's first school superintendent in 1854, when there were 34 teachers and 3,000 students. When he resigned in 1856, enrollment had doubled to 6,100, 46 new instructors had been hired, and four new schools (including the first high school) had been constructed.Mary J. Herrick, The Chicago Schools (1971) pp 21-54. Annual salaries were $500 for men and $250 for women. To save money the schools began hiring young women who wanted to teach before they married and had to resign. To train the teachers the city established "normal school" programs—a two-year course for graduates of 8th grade. The handful of new 4-year high schools also offered 2-year normal curricula.Bessie Louise Pierce, A History of Chicago. Vol. 1, The Beginning of a City, 1673–1848 (1937) pp. 268–285. Typical was Ella Flagg Young; her family arrived in 1858 from Buffalo, New York. In 1860, at age 15, she entered the Chicago Normal School, graduating in 1862, she taught for three years as an elementary teacher. Instead of marriage she embarked on a career in administration. In 1865 she was appointed director of the small pre-collegiate "practice school" newly opened at Scammon School.Joan K. Smith, "Ella Flagg Young and the Chicago Schools, 1905-1915."
Progressive theories of education Francis Wayland Parker (1837–1902), John Dewey (1859–1952), Ella Flagg Young (1845–1918), Jane Addams (1860–1935) and William Wirt (1874–1938) were five of the nation's most influential educational theorists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Each was based in Chicago around 1900 and influenced many disciples there. They played decisive roles in shaping what was known as Progressive Education in Chicago.Arthur Zilversmit, "Progressive Education" in Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004) pp. 648-649; online Thanks to them Chicago played a central role in defining the educational ambitions of the Progressive Movement nationwide.Each is discussed in Lawrence A. Cremin, The transformation of the school: progressivism in American education, 1876-1957 (1964) online
Parker studied in Germany and became a superintendent in Massachusetts where he developed his Quincy Method, which eliminated harsh discipline and de-emphasized rote memorization, replacing them with elements of progressive education, such as group activities, the teaching of the arts and sciences, and informal methods of instruction. He rejected tests, grading and ranking systems. As principal of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago (1883–99) he experimented with ways to expand and develop his curriculum. For example, reading, spelling, and writing were merged into a new subject called "communication." Art and physical education were added to the curriculum. He taught science through the study of nature. In 1899, Parker founded and served as principal (1899–1901) for a private experimental school, the Chicago Institute, which became the School of Education of the University of Chicago in 1901.Franklin Parker, "Francis Wayland Parker, 1837‐1902." Paedagogica Historica 1.1 (1961): 120-133.
John Dewey ranged widely over the main topics of philosophy, but he returned again and again to the nature of education in an ideal society, and that was his main concern during his years in Chicago (1894–1904) at the University of Chicago .Robert B. Westbrook, John Dewey and American democracy (Cornell UP, 1991) pp. 167–192. He worked there with Ella Flagg Young and founded the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where his disciples tested his ideas in actual classrooms.Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, . "Experimenting with education: John Dewey and Ella Flagg Young at the University of Chicago." American Journal of Education 104.3 (1996): 171-185.
Ella Flagg Young was superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. 1909–1915, where she operationalized Dewey's progressivism. She was the first woman to head a large city school system—it had 290,000 enrolled students and owned property worth $50,000,000. Her salary of $10,000 was the highest any woman had received in a government job in the U.S. She also served as the first woman president of the National Education Association. She was a professor of education at the University of Chicago (1899–1905); became principal of the Chicago Normal School (1905–1909); she served on the Illinois State Board of Education from 1888 to 1913. She published extensively on Deweyite themes.Joan K. Smith, "Progressive School Administration Ella Flagg Young and the Chicago Schools, 1905-1915". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1980) 73#1: 27–44.
William Wirt, the superintendent in nearby Gary, Indiana, won national acclaim for his Gary Plan. It set up a two platoon system so that twice as many students could use the same facilities, which were expanded to include shops, labs, auditoriums and playgrounds. Wirt learned Dewey's ideas while he was in graduate school in Chicago and tried to put them in action. Dewey and other educators highly praised the experiment, while business admired the cost efficiency. Labor union objections were overruled and in the 1920s Chicago was using the platoon system in some schools.Herrick, 148-151.
Chicago-style educational theorizing influenced intellectuals across the nation, but it was less convincing to school superintendents and school board members who had to make daily decisions about the shape and budget of schooling. They paid more attention to business oriented progressivism, which emphasized administrative efficiency as measured by low taxes. As sociologists discovered, "In the struggle between quantitative administrative efficiency and qualitative educational goals...th big guns are all on the side of ...the former."Robert S. Lynd, and Helen M. Lynd, Middletown in transition: A study in cultural conflicts (1937) p. 241. On the other hand, in elite private schools with high tuitions, satisfaction of the wealthy parents is decisive, and the intellectuals like Dewey prevailed.David B. Tyack, The one best system: A history of American urban education (1974), p. 197.
Progressive reforms attempted under Mayor Dunne 1905-1907 The seven members of Board of Education appointed by Mayor Edward Dunne, a Democrat, included Progressive Party leaders in 1912 like Jane Addams. Its reforms were reversed by the conservative Republican mayor Fred A. Busse in 1908. Nevertheless, the reforms played a pivotal role in early 20th-century educational debates by challenging the prevailing "administrative progressive" approach that emphasized efficiency, centralized authority, and strong superintendents—an approach that paralleled the broader city manager movement in American governance The board served as a microcosm of progressive ideals, advocating for:.Mary Schiltz, . "The Dunne School Board: Reform in Chicago, 1905-1908" (PhD dissertation; Loyola University Chicago, 1993) online, pp. 222–231. Labor Rights: Support for teacher unions and broader labor organizations. Decentralized Decision-Making: Emphasis on community input rather than top-down control. Transparency: Promotion of openness in teacher promotions and textbook contracts. Inclusion: Efforts to diversify community representation on boards and commissions. The Dunne Board stood out for its diverse composition, breaking from the tradition of male business leaders dominating Chicago's educational governance. Women actively challenged male-dominated structures. Labor Representatives amplified working-class voices on school issues. Social Reformers included individuals committed to progressive causes. These reformers members formed overlapping networks, often rooted in "Social Gospel" Protestantism, and allied with labor and immigrant groups—most notably Margaret Haley and the Teachers' Federation—in opposition to the propertied elite.
The board prioritized practical reforms such as improved teacher salaries and greater teacher involvement in decision-making, reducing the superintendent's power. Its support for the Teachers’ Federation was a dramatic new factor in Chicago affairs. The new Teacher Advisory Councils embraced participatory democracy by valuing teachers’ classroom experience in policy decisions. Although most of the Dunne Board's reforms were quickly reversed, they left a lasting legacy. Concepts such as teachers’ councils are now widely accepted as mechanisms for professional input. The board's commitment to open debate and public participation is reflected in today's open meeting acts, demonstrating that their vision for a democratic educational system ultimately prevailed.Schiltz, pp. 222–231.
Catholic parochial schools Almost half the Chicago population was Catholic by the 1920s. Many children—perhaps half—attended public schools. The risk of exposure to Protestant proselytizing was minimal since over a third of the public school teachers were Catholics, along with almost as many principals. The parishes built their own schools, using sisters (who had taken vows of poverty) as inexpensive teachers. German and Polish parents appreciated that the schools taught most classes in their own language. Cardinal George Mundelein (archbishop 1915–1939) centralized control of the parish schools in his own hands. His building committee decided where new schools would be located, while his school board standardized curricula, textbooks, teacher training, testing, and educational policy. Simultaneously he gained a voice in city hall, and Catholic William J. Bogan was Superintendent of public schools, 1928 to 1936.James W. Sanders, The education of an urban minority: Catholics in Chicago, 1833-1965 (Oxford UP, 1977) pp. 126-136, 147-160.