"Amid anger, Chicago to close 50 schools" by SARA BURNETT | Associated Press, May 23, 2013
CHICAGO — The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term in office.
City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling enrollment. They would also help efforts to improve the struggling education system.
‘‘The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,’’ schools chief executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett said before the board’s vote.
Critics have blasted Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, and Byrd-Bennett, saying the closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods and will endanger children who may now have to cross gang boundaries.
They protested during the board’s meeting and sent busloads of parents, teachers, and students to Springfield to lobby lawmakers to approve a moratorium on the closings.
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Related: Closing Chicago's Schools
