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Chicago Public Schools

Engaged Employer

Chicago Public Schools reviews

3.4

60% would recommend to a friend

(2,749 total reviews)

Dr. Macquline King

55% approve of CEO

39% positive business outlook

Chicago Public Schools has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 2,749 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Chicago Public Schools employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
3.0
Feb 24, 2018

Stressful job for idealists

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you get in a good school and teach the top students -- AP, IB, etc. -- you'll have a great experience. It can be an invigorating, inspiring job when working with "disadvantaged" kids who are eager to learn.

Cons

Work/life balance sucks. It's difficult, if not impossible, to do this work well even putting in an extra hour or two per day. I've spent the last 13 years working 12 hour days and grading papers all day on Sunday. If you don't teach the "good" kids, classes are hostile, unruly, and totally pointless. A handful of out-of-control students can ruin a class, and administration won't help. Hallways are a DMZ, without any order or rule. Battle against cell phones is endless. Every day is a pointless war against apathy. Be prepared to slog through projects, giving every support available, and still have less than half of your students complete the work. Get ready to lower your expectations and give students mindless work in order to justify a passing grade. Admin cares about passing students and test scores, not actual learning or development of ethic humans. Lots of drug use -- even in 'good' schools, kids are coming to school drunk and high. Smoking and selling weed in the bathroom or classrooms. Students show aggressive defiance even towards kind and respectful teachers. Administration watches and won't intervene. In the worst schools, be prepared to deal with lots of trauma -- kids being killed, violent fights, threats and assaults on teachers. (I have had all of these happen to me.) Tremendous effort that, in the end, rarely pays off.

3.0
Apr 20, 2017

Locked In

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Secure employment -Flexible summers -Teaching youth and connecting with the community

Cons

-Feeling trapped to finish x numbers of years because of the pension -Poor funding and management -Lack of resources and overcrowded schools

4.0
Aug 24, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A Cadre Substitute teacher is employed to cover the classes of absent teachers on all student attendance days other than the final day of a given school year. Cadre Substitute Teachers get health insurance.

Cons

Cadre status usually granted for one school year. Re-application is necessary. A day-to-day substitute teacher may be selected to serve as a Cadre in October, not at the beginning of the school year.

Viewing 4 - 6 of 2,749 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,915 Chicago Public Schools reviews submitted anonymously by Chicago Public Schools employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Chicago Public Schools is right for you.