Why So Many School Closings in Black Areas?

In Ebony Rod McCullom writes that many of the schools on schedule to be closed in Chicago are in minority neighborhoods.

The proposed closings are a sharp contrast to citywide data, where only 41.7 percent of CPS students are Black.  The proposed closures have outraged parents and neighborhood groups. "It's a lawsuit waiting to happen," said Dwayne Truss of the Save Our Neighborhood Schools Coalition based on the city's West Side.

Chicago Public Schools' Commission on School Utilization released its final report on the district's closure plans on March 6. "After four months of public hearings and review, the commission…determined the school district has enough staff and available space to pull off 80 school shake-ups, including closings and total staff overhauls known as turnarounds." reported WBEZ Radio.

The schools targeted for closure in the final report are significantly fewer than the 330 schools initially flagged. "The communities that stand to be hardest hit are the same predominantly-Black neighborhoods that have experienced the bulk of prior closings," reported Catalyst, the city's well-respected journal on urban education, on February 12.

Read Rod McCullom's entire piece at Ebony.

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