The Nation - News from March 24, 1988

Education Secretary William J. Bennett said his tour of two Chicago public schools did not alter his opinion that the nation’s third-largest school system is the worst in the country. Bennett toured classrooms and met separately with teachers and students at the predominantly black Terrell Elementary School on the South Side and the racially mixed Bogan High School on the Southwest Side at the invitation of the Chicago Teachers Union. He spent an hour at each of the schools. Bennett, who was in town to address a Republican women’s meeting, said he based his low assessment of the school system on its nearly 50% dropout rate and test scores showing Chicago students falling below the national average in reading, math and other areas.