Charter schools have proven their academic worth. Chicago and Illinois must invest in them

Educators teach remotely outside Passages Charter School on March 5, 2021, during the pandemic. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

This August, students across the country will return to schools for the 2023-2024 academic year. It will mark the fourth academic year since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning in March 2020.

But the devastating effects on student learning are still felt in classrooms. According to results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, fourth- and eighth-grade students in every state and every region of the country saw significant declines in both math and reading achievement between 2019 and 2022.