Some Chicago Public Schools Raise Hundreds of Thousands Through "Friends Of" Groups. Others Raise Far Less.

Across Chicago Public Schools, money from outside the district budget flows unevenly, and much of it goes to a small group of schools, according to reporting by WBEZ.

The $175 million

A WBEZ review of CPS budget data found that $175 million was spent from schools' outside funds between 2010 and 2021. Those funds hold money from fundraising, parking lot rentals, student fees, grants and other sources, WBEZ reported. WBEZ found that most of that outside money is collected and spent by a small number of schools where fewer than half of students are low income, mostly on the North Side.

What "Friends Of" groups are

Many schools have a private nonprofit, often called "Friends Of" the school, that raises money on top of what the district provides. A 2021 Chalkbeat Chicago analysis found at least 100 CPS schools with such groups, concentrated on the North Side, and noted that CPS keeps no central list of them or their totals.

What the filings show

Tax filings show the range. According to ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, Friends of Payton Association reported revenue of $884,987 for fiscal year 2024 to 2025, and Friends of Coonley School reported $719,687 for 2024. Those are revenue figures from IRS filings.

WBEZ compared two schools in 2022. Friends of Lincoln Elementary in Lincoln Park raised $532,667 in 2019, according to tax documents, and a separate music association that charges students for band collected $178,569. Only 10 percent of Lincoln's students are low income, WBEZ reported. At Lenart Regional Gifted Center on the South Side, where about a third of students are low income, WBEZ reported that families raise about $20,000 a year.

What research says

A 2023 Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago working paper by Lisa Barrow, Matthew Komisarow and Lauren Sartain found that a weighted student funding policy shifted money toward schools with more low income students, but that external fundraising offset an estimated 26 to 39 percent of the resulting per pupil gap. Most fundraised dollars went to more affluent schools.

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Photos and video: ReoFact.