Teachers in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) district have claimed that they were instructed to pass illegal migrant students during the most recent school year, regardless of their academic performance. 

According to a report from WGN Radio, several elementary school teachers stated that they were told to give migrant students a 70 percent grade in each subject and promote them to the next grade, even if they did not meet the necessary academic criteria. 

These teachers further noted that many of the migrant students did not speak English, and the teachers themselves did not speak Spanish, making it nearly impossible to actually teach the necessary lessons. According to WGN News’ Sylvia Snowden, one teacher described how she used Google Translate and relied on the school’s Spanish teacher in order to communicate with her migrant student “for the entire year.”

This revelation contrasts with previous claims made by CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who had insisted that migrant students were being held to the same academic standards as Chicago-born students. However, following the report, a CPS spokesperson acknowledged that the district’s guidelines are “modified to serve the specialized needs of English Language Learners.”

The controversy arises amid an ongoing migrant crisis in Chicago. Since 2022, nearly 50,000 migrants have been bused to the city from the southern border of Texas. This influx has strained Chicago’s resources, and the city has been struggling to manage the surge in migrant arrivals. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has called on the federal government for additional funding to handle the crisis, as the city’s homeless population has risen dramatically due to the strain on resources. Over the past two years, Chicago has spent more than $400 million on migrant-related services, according to NBC Chicago.

This piece first appeared at TPUSA.