CPS pushes 1st-day attendance

"School starts when?" Duncan asked families gathered at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in East Garfield Park.

"Sept. 4!" the congregation roared back in the cavernous brick church.

Since taking over CPS in 2001, Duncan has pushed better attendance. Last year, first-day attendance reached a new high of nearly 93 percent, up from 85 percent in 2001. Each percentage point gain in overall attendance brings CPS an extra $18 million in state money.

"Kids used to trickle in and that's a recipe for failure," Duncan said. "If they're in school, they have a chance to be successful."

CPS is focusing intensely on freshmen this year, following a University of Chicago study that found the average freshman missed about 20 of 170 instructional days.

Today, CPS will follow up by launching a two-week door-knocking campaign in up to 30 communities with the lowest attendance rates. Local celebrities will pitch in with home phone calls, urging kids to show up for school.

CPS also will dangle incentives in front of kids and their parents to encourage good attendance throughout the school year, as it has done the last several years.

Students with perfect attendance will be eligible for $1,000 gift cards, a month's break on the family mortgage or rent, vacations and, for the first time this year, a car.