As Chicago Public Schools aims to make a case for increased investment in the school district amid a budget shortfall, leaders highlighted steady graduation rates, an increase in the percentage of students earning college or career credit while in high school and improved reading scores among elementary school students.About 84% of students this year graduated in four years, about the same as last year but up significantly over time. About a decade ago the rate was just 59%. And more than 52% of last year’s graduates earned early college and career credits, up 3% from the previous year, CPS said.CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, under fire recently for clashing with Mayor Brandon Johnson over the CPS budget deficit, celebrated the achievements and pledged to work toward more."These numbers," Martinez said, "represent the hopes and dreams and achievements of thousands of students and families. They represent the hard work of the talented and dedicated school leaders, educators and staff.""I was a student in the 1980s, and I can tell you that less than 30% of students that I started with in high school graduated with me," Martinez said. "So I want you to understand how important this is."Martinez also heralded previously released preliminary state test scores that showed more elementary school students are proficient in reading compared to last year, putting performance above pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Math proficiency on annual state exams inched up slightly.Still, proficiency levels remain low. Only about 31% of elementary students are considered proficient in reading and 19% in math. Last year, 26% of students were proficient in reading and in 2019, it was 28%. On Oct. 30, the state plans to release final results for third through eighth graders from the Illinois Assessment of Readiness exam in reading, math and science.CPS also cited research showing CPS elementary scores through last year were improving more than most other large districts in the nation.Reading levels recovered from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures, but the road doesn't stop here, Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova said, addressing students and staff and media at Charles Prosser Career Academy on Thursday morning."We have fully recovered, and we should be looking at what is ahead of us," Chkoumbova said.Martinez also touted increases in attendance, scholarship money and the percentage of students enrolling in college overall and in each racial group.Students heading to college earned a record $2.11 billion in scholarship money last year, school officials announced.As the district faces an uphill battle financially, officials are working to make sure it doesn't affect the graduation rate or other academic markers. CPS is seeing more students with complex needs, including students with individualized education plans or learning English as a second language. Martinez said the district is looking at other forms of funding to mitigate the deficit, including tax increment financing."The funding is not keeping up with it," Martinez said. "For us, it's gonna take local, it's gonna take our state, it's gonna take federal, and to be clear, taxpayers aren't gonna be paying those dollars. Those are not new taxes."Chkoumbova said the district hasn't cut resources to schools and is working to prioritize the investments already made and things like staff morale, and connecting with students can go a long way without costing a lot."In Chicago, for decades, school improvement's been on the shoulders of strong instructional leaders, our principals," she said. "Resourcing and protecting what we already invested in the schools should be absolute priority, and even during this difficult financial year that we are in, we did not cut any resources from schools. That should continue to be the pathway and the focus of the district."