DeSantis Claims On Chicago Kid Shootings: Hyperbole Or Fact?

Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org,

“When you think of a place like Chicago, these kids, you’re more likely to get shot than you are to get a world-class education in some of these places.”

That was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ comment about Chicago’s crime and failed education system late last month. 

Hyperbole, maybe, but not that far off if you only consider the city’s struggling black community.

Data from the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Dashboard shows there were 3,512 fatal and non-fatal shooting victims in 2022, nearly 20 percent of which were aged 19 and under.

With black Chicagoans, on average, making up over three quarters of all victims, that’s about 500 black youths shot in 2022.

How does that compare to the number of black Chicago Public School students getting a “world-class” education? 

We looked at the Illinois Report Card data for 2022 and found that only a dismal 0.4 percent of Chicago’s 110,000 black students exceeded the requirements for math – a proxy for “world-class” education. That’s just shy of 500 black students.

DeSantis basically nailed it.

The fact that his statement is even close to true shows just how badly Chicago’s leaders are failing the city’s children – not only through their failure to tamp down on violent crime but also through their inability to educate.