Group says policy is hurting minority students, wants it eliminated.The group, Parents United for Responsible Education, is asking the U.S. Education Department to stop the Chicago Public School's practice of holding back students who fail to meet the cutoff score on state standardized tests.
PURE says the score is arbitrary and has hurt African-American and Hispanic students the most. It argues the practice of ending social promotions has accelerated the downward spiral of many affected students and led to an increase in the dropout rate
The group says 100,000 CPS students have had to repeat a grade since 1996 at a cost of $100 million a year. PURE says that money could be used for more support and individual learning plans for students.
A CPS spokesperson says PURE's data may be outdated. The spokesperson says CPS has made progress in providing students the resources they need to succeed.