Chicago Just Carried Out The Biggest Round Of School Closings In American History

by | May 24, 2013 | News | 0 comments

The Chicago school system, the nation’s third largest, is in big financial trouble, with a billion dollar deficit coming up, falling enrollment, and a recent massive teacher strike over a contract dispute.

Now, MSNBC reports, after a heavily protested meeting where multiple people had to be thrown out, the Chicago Board Of Education voted 4-2 to close 49 schools and one high school program in the largest round of school closures that a single American city has ever attempted.

chicago-protestsAt one point, a man wearing a shirt from the Chicago Teachers Union stood up and walked out mid meeting saying “This is a farce. If you care about children, you should leave now.”

Opponents object to the closures because they say it disproportionately affects black students, that it will disrupt their educations, and that some students might have to cross gang territory.

Supporters say this is necessary just to keep the system solvent, and to try to fix the schools that remain.

Here’s the full list of schools being closed, via the Chicago Tribune:

Louis Armstrong Math & Science Elementary School

Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School

Arna Wendell Bontemps Elementary School

Kate S Buckingham Special Education Center

John Calhoun North Elementary School

Miriam G Canter Middle School

Ana Roque de Duprey Elementary School

Robert Emmet Elementary School

Nathan R Goldblatt Elementary School

Matthew A Henson Elementary School

Francis Scott Key Elementary School

William H King Elementary School

Alfred David Kohn Elementary School

Jean D Lafayette Elementary School

Guglielmo Marconi Elementary Community Academy

Garrett A Morgan Elementary School

Near North Elementary School

Anthony Overton Elementary School

Jesse Owens Elementary Community Academy

Ignance Paderewski Elementary Learning Academy

Francis Parkman Elementary School

Elizabeth Peabody Elementary School

Nathaniel Pope Elementary School

Betsy Ross Elementary School

Songhai Elementary Learning Institute

Graeme Stewart Elementary School

Lyman Trumbull Elementary School

Alexander von Humboldt Elementary School

West Pullman Elementary School

Granville T Woods Math & Science Academy ES

Elihu Yale Elementary School

Crispus Attucks Elementary School

John P Altgeld Elementary School

Benjamin Banneker Elementary School

Edward C Delano Elementary School

Dumas Technology Academy

Enrico Fermi Elementary School

Garfield Park Preparatory Academy ES

Elaine O Goodlow Elementary Magnet School

Victor Herbert Elementary School

Robert H Lawrence Elementary School

Horatio May Elementary Community Academy

William J & Charles H Mayo Elementary School

Pershing West Middle School

Martin A Ryerson Elementary School

Austin O Sexton Elementary School

Joseph Stockton Elementary School

Williams Multiplex Elementary School

Williams Preparatory Academy Middle School

Roswell B Mason Elementary School (high school program only)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-school-closings-2013-5#ixzz2U9xJOWFS

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