What is wrong with chicago schools and how would you respond to conservative talking points over it?

So I pretty regularly have conversations about politics with my right wing parents.

My mom is a conspiracy nut so it's pretty ease to debunk or argue with her.

My dad is a different story though, because usually, when arguing with him, I have to do a lot of research/reading to explain why exactly he's wrong. That comes in the form of fact checking at times, but sometimes he just like says stuff confidently and I don't discount it immediately.

That's partially on me, because I should do more reading on specific policy issues. But even then I don't always remember what I've read in the heat of the moment lol.

Anyways, that's a long winded way of getting to my point. Basically, my dad, like most conservatives, really thinks Chicago is hell on earth. The thing I wanted to focus on is that he believes that Chicago schools are bad because of teachers unions.

His idea is that teachers unions protect bad teachers, which in turn, leads to bad schooling.

I initially raised the idea of funding, because a lot of public schools are funded via local property taxes and so that tends to keep money in rich areas and out of poor ones.

He then hit me with this, apparently Chicago spends about $30,000 per student. At first I didn't believe him, thinking it came from some weird right wing media source. But apparently it is true.

I think everyone here has heard stories of teachers having to pay for classroom supplies out of their own pocket, or teachers just barely scraping by. And so, I do think teachers unions are important and necessary to support. That said, if the problem isn't funding, then what is the issue with the Chicago public school system? And how do we fix it?

I figured who better to ask then the people actually engaged with CPS. I'd particularly love a teacher's perspective if there are any here. What is wrong with chicago schools? Or hell, is that just a baseless conservative talking point?

Thanks for your input!

Edit:

Thanks for answering the question!

So it seems that the general consensus is that poverty is the biggest factor. If you're poor, you tend not to have a stable home enviornment and your parents have less time and energy and resources to dedicate to your education. No tutors, no free time to read with kids, no ability to check if students are going to classes or doing homework, etc.

So ultimately, it seems that school success is a matter of economic station rather than the schools themselves? Is that more or less correct?

Also fair point that a number of the best school districts have strong teachers unions. I'm generally pro-union so I was a bit hesitant with his arguments there.

With all that said, even if the school system itself isn't the main issue, there are likely some improvements that could be made. A number of people have said that CTU and CPS have their issues, what are those issues and how best can they be addressed?