Time to close out these posts:
"Chicago to close 54 schools to address $1b deficit" by Sara Burnett and Jason Keyser | Associated Press, March 22, 2013
CHICAGO — City officials said Thursday that they plan to close 54 schools in an effort to address a $1 billion budget shortfall and improve a struggling educational system — a plan that drew the ire of parents and teachers.
The Chicago school district’s chief executive, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel say the closures are necessary because too many school buildings are half-empty....
Opponents say the closures will disproportionately affect minority children and endanger students who may have to cross gang boundaries to attend school....
Officials said money being spent to keep underutilized schools open could be better used to educate students elsewhere....
Critics say the closings are unnecessary and will devastate communities, particularly poor, minority neighborhoods....
Chicago is among several major cities, including Philadelphia, Washington, and Detroit, to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment....
The issue has again pitted Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union, whose 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, idling students for seven days. It has also put Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett at odds with parents, civic leaders, and lawmakers, who have blasted the pair during highly charged community meetings throughout the city and at a legislative hearing earlier this week.
Danielle Horton, who learned her son’s school is among those slated to close, called Byrd-Bennett the mayor’s ‘‘hatchet man’’ and accused her and Emanuel of trying to ‘‘rob the community to further a political agenda’’ that includes expanding the use of charter schools.
Many of the schools identified for closure are in high-crime areas of Chicago where gang violence contributed to a marked increase in the city’s homicide rate last year.
The district plans to have community groups help students get to their new locations safely....
--more--"
"STUDENT BACKLASH -- Chicago students, including Alan Mares, demonstrated Monday outside the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel against a plan to close more than 50 schools. The city says it is necessary to ease a looming $1 billion budget deficit. The closings would shift 30,000 students to new schools and threaten teachers' jobs (Boston Globe March 26 2013)."
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Chicago Teachers Call For War
Also see:
Chicago teachers to again consider ending strike
Chicago teachers union votes to end its strike
I think you need to go back out.
