Districts Around the U.S. Are Mulling School Closures as Student Enrollment Falls – WTTW (Chicago)

Chicago shuttered around 50 schools in 2013 — the largest school closure in U.S. history. Afterward, fighting and bullying increased as displaced students settled into new schools, said Marisa de la Torre, of the UChicago Consortium on School Research. Test scores dipped in the schools slated for closure, and while the displaced students’ reading scores eventually recovered, math performance issues persisted for years. Under pressure from Chicago’s powerful teachers union, the city issued a moratorium on closures through 2027. Around a third of classroom seats remain empty.
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Bob
6 months ago

Have to keep the schools open for the union to collect UNION DUES. CTU only cares about power and money.

daskoterzar
6 months ago

Public schools serve the public and are built for the community. When that community isn’t using the the publicly funded building and school, the Public School needs to reallocate resources to address operational needs. That might mean closing schools. It is reality. It seems that just because public education is funded by a never ending and bottomless pit of taxation, educators can allow unused structures and resources to to be spent inefficiently. This waste has to end. It is ridiculous and obviously unsustainable.

David F
6 months ago

Another 50 isn’t enough!

Mark F
6 months ago

There are roughly 600 Chicago public schools in operation. If 1/3 of class rooms are empty, does that mean Chicago is looking at closing about 200 schools so all class room would be filled after 2027? A lot of principles will be scrambling for jobs.

ProzacPlease
6 months ago

Enrollment dropped from 115,000 to 18,000. And they say with a straight face that a school shouldn’t be closed because Tina Turner was an alum.

News flash- Tina Turner moved to Switzerland decades ago, where she finally became a citizen and passed away a few years ago. Time to face the real world as it exists now.

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