Chicago Public Schools plans to close 54 schools in June, but a new Chicago Teachers Union
study raises questions about whether the district has the capacity to
close that many in such a short time, given its issues with closing at
least one of four schools last year.
Once Englewood’s Simon
Guggenheim Elementary closed last year, only 37 percent of its
non-graduating students enrolled at the designated receiving school, Carrie Jacobs Bond Elementary, according to CTU’s “A Tale of Two Schools” study.
Also, CPS has yet to account for 23 former Guggenheim students, the study added.
“To
lose any student, let alone that many ... it’s just dangerous, and it just
baffles me how CPS thinks that this is a good plan, when for the past
10 years or so, when these school closings started, they’ve never been
able to get it right, because it’s not right,” said Action Now Executive Director Katelyn Johnson.
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Emmet Elementary School’s
Members of SEIU* Local 1 stood in solidarity with students and
parents Saturday at the second and final community meeting regarding the
phase out of 
Menjiwei Latham said it’s been “horrible” looking for the right
school for her special education student in the Chicago Public Schools
(CPS) system. Her 11 year-old son, Paki, who has been diagnosed with Fragile X
Syndrome (FXS), was placed in two special education programs before he
found his place at 
Parents and South Side residents called the Chicago Public Schools’
plan to shut down 54 schools at the end of the year a violent and
disrespectful act during the second and final community meeting
regarding the closure of 
The city’s tax increment financing, or TIF, program is an economic
development tool, but it should really be called a Chicago bailout for
private companies, some Uptown residents said at a town hall meeting Thursday night as part of the CivicLab’s 
Members of Action Now and the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) protested outside of the 
For the past 100 years, 