Some local believers argue that pulling kids from Chicago Public Schools abandons the calling to be salt and light in struggling urban communities. Others insist the secular curriculum makes homeschooling or Christian schooling a non-negotiable act of stewardship.
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Add your commentI homeschooled my son through middle school here in Logan Square and honestly the loneliest part wasn't him — it was ME. The judgment from other church members was relentless. People acted like I was building a bunker. Meanwhile my kid was reading Augustine at 13 and volunteering at our church's after-school tutoring program three days a week. He's at UIC now, double majoring, solid faith, great friendships. I think we made the right call but I still carry some of the wounds from that season in our church community.
Born and raised on the South Side, attended CPS all the way through. My kids go to a Christian school now and I'll tell you what — I don't lose a single night's sleep over it. Salt and light doesn't mean you throw your eight-year-old into a situation where she's outnumbered and unprepared. You prepare her FIRST. That's not retreat, that's strategy. Any veteran will tell you you don't send raw recruits straight to the front lines.
I just moved here from Indianapolis about two years ago, so take my perspective for what it's worth. What strikes me about Chicago specifically is that the stakes feel so much higher. The school quality varies WILDLY block to block. This isn't a theoretical debate for families in Englewood or Austin. These are life-or-death resource decisions. I think Christians from comfortable suburbs need to be very slow to lecture urban parents about staying in failing schools for the sake of "mission." That framing can veer into something ugly real fast.
I appreciate both sides but can someone in this thread who actually DOES keep their kids in CPS speak up? Because all I'm hearing is people defending their own choice. I kept my daughter in her neighborhood school in Pilsen for four years because I genuinely believed in it. Her teacher was incredible, the community was rich, and yes, her faith was challenged but also sharpened. It was hard and I'd probably do it again. Why does nobody want to represent that path here?
okay but can we talk about how this debate kind of assumes homeschool kids live in a bubble? my neighbor homeschools her three kids and those children are at the food pantry on Pulaski every Saturday, they're at the park, they're in the neighborhood. they're more embedded in this city than half the CPS kids I know whose parents drive them 45 minutes to a magnet school across town and then straight home. presence isn't the same as enrollment.
the mission field argument would land a lot better if the same churches making it were also, idk, actually resourcing those schools. tutoring programs. teacher support. fighting for funding. but a lot of times "be salt and light" just means "sacrifice your kids so WE feel good about our neighborhood presence" and thats not a theology i recognize from scripture sorry not sorry
Nope. Hard disagree with the whole framing. Jesus told his disciples to be IN the world, not OF it — he never said enroll your kindergartner in a school that tells her her faith is irrelevant before she even knows what her faith IS. This isn't complicated theology, people.
Respectfully, I think some folks here are confusing two completely separate questions. Question 1: Is homeschooling/Christian schooling a legitimate and godly choice? Absolutely yes, without question. Question 2: Is it THE ONLY faithful choice for Chicago Christian families? That's where I pump the brakes. I know families deeply rooted in their CPS schools — showing up, advocating, building relationships with teachers and administrators — and God is moving through them. He's also moving through the homeschool co-op at my church. Can we please hold both without making the other side feel like they betrayed the city?
fun fact: Dwight L. Moody himself started schools for poor children right here in Chicago because he believed education and faith couldn't be separated. so the idea that Chicago Christians have some long tradition of abandoning Christian education is just historically wrong. look it up before you come for homeschool families.
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