Posted on 03/21/2013 3:47:33 PM PDT by mdittmar
CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago Public Schools officials said Thursday 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.
District CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel say the closures are necessary because too many CPS buildings are half-empty. The nation's third-largest district, CPS has about 403,000 students but has seats for more than 500,000, officials say. But opponents say the closures will disproportionately affect minority children and endanger students who may have to cross gang boundaries to attend school.
The plan will affect about 30,000 students, CPS officials said. They say money being spent to keep underutilized schools open could be better used to educate students elsewhere.
"Every child in every neighborhood in Chicago deserves access to a high quality education that prepares them to succeed in life, but for too long children in certain parts of Chicago have been cheated out of the resources they need to succeed because they are in underutilized, under-resourced schools," Byrd-Bennett said. "As a former teacher and a principal, I've lived through school closings and I know that this will not be easy, but I also know that in the end this will benefit our children."
Critics say the closings are unnecessary and will devastate communities, particularly poor, minority neighborhoods.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc6.com ...
It’s not as if a lot of those students were getting any use out of them anyway. You can lead a horse to water...
Home schooling is the answer.
Of course they would never consider cutting the administration.
You could eliminate 90% of the costs of school district administration and not miss a beat.
What about midnight basketball?
“But opponents say the closures will disproportionately affect minority children and endanger students who may have to cross gang boundaries to attend school.”
Then tell Rham to do something about the gangs. What a concept....
Where will gang members go to during the day now?
Is that $18 million per school!?? With only 555 students per school?!! Did I figure that correctly?
Step in the right direction
When you promise unicorns and candy to voters today that does not have to be paid by them this is what you get.
Their funding gap is due to promises made decades ago to voters who care not for any one except themselves.
If students today have to suffer who cares?
Just make sure administrators get 100% of their retirement benefits.
“Home schooling is the answer.”
Do you really think that Gundarena can home school her 6 kids by 6 different guys? No way!
Maybe if the U.S. Department of Education was eliminated those kids wouldn’t have to deal with all those gangs.
The kids could encounter a Tea Party partisan with an assault rifle and be scandalized....
What a heartless racist!
/sarc
(You know that's what they'd be screaming if Ms. Byrd-Bennett were a white Republican...or white Hispanic.)
To many gangs out there,wear the wrong color jersey and you get shot.
Eventually you run out of others people’s money.
No money for schools but plenty for retirements and to pay people not to work.
Rahm wasn’t even in Chicago when news of the school closings was released. He’s skiing in Utah.
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130321/chicago/rahm-on-vacation-as-school-closings-list-leaks
Home school if they can, move if they can’t. I smell blood and danger.
Blacks didn’t give a rats a** about whites put on buses and bused to the other end of town, why should we give a rats a** about them being bused to another part of gang territory. Wait till amnesty and hispanics move into the city and kick their butts. Popcorn season is about to begin.
I thought Chicago was supposed to be safe due to their strict gun laws. What happened?
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