So this is a legitimately tricky question and I don't know the answer here. Here is the tl;dr version.
Chicago is trying to close school buildings that are either under-enrolled or are chronically poor performers. The idea is both to save money (Chicago, like most big cities, is struggling with budget issues), and to put pressure/accountability on failing schools. There has been some controversy over the school closing list, as some say it will force poorer communities to travel too far for school, or that the list is set up to give friends of the mayor preferential charter school contracts.
ANYWAY, a new wrinkle has been added, as a commission panel recommended that no high schools be closed, even if they are under-enrolled, as the new school boundaries would cross gang boundaries, putting hundreds of high schoolers at risk of violence.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...a-byrd-bennett
So what would you do? Not closing the schools may send a bad message that gangs can overly influence public policy, and would cost the city extra money. Closing the schools, given the explosive nature of Chicago's gang problem (which I've written about several times), would almost certainly put students, and probably police officers, at risk. Plus, with an undercurrent of gang violence and tension, it's unlikely that the new schools would be harbingers of academic achievement. Sending extra police to the new schools may wipe out the cost savings as well.
If you were head of CPS, what would you do?
Chicago is trying to close school buildings that are either under-enrolled or are chronically poor performers. The idea is both to save money (Chicago, like most big cities, is struggling with budget issues), and to put pressure/accountability on failing schools. There has been some controversy over the school closing list, as some say it will force poorer communities to travel too far for school, or that the list is set up to give friends of the mayor preferential charter school contracts.
ANYWAY, a new wrinkle has been added, as a commission panel recommended that no high schools be closed, even if they are under-enrolled, as the new school boundaries would cross gang boundaries, putting hundreds of high schoolers at risk of violence.
Quote:
|
The commission studying school closings in Chicago is recommending that no high schools be shut down because doing so would endanger students by forcing them to cross gang boundaries or move to schools where rival gangs hold sway. "With gang boundaries sometimes shifting on an almost weekly basis, and barring extreme circumstances, it is simply too risky to ask high-school-age kids to cross gang lines just to travel to and from schools," the Commission on School Utilization wrote in a preliminary report issued Thursday. The commission, appointed by Chicago Public Schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett to engage the community on the thorny issue of closing schools, won't issue its final report until early March. The district said it needs to close schools that are underenrolled to deal with a looming $1 billion deficit. CPS won't unveil its list of schools to be closed until the end of March, creating fear and confusion among many parents in South and West Side communities that figure to be hit hardest. The commission's preliminary report could help frame the issue for those communities. In addition to recommending that high schools be left alone, the commission recommends that schools with more than 600 students be kept open, as well as underused schools that are in the process of adding grades. |
So what would you do? Not closing the schools may send a bad message that gangs can overly influence public policy, and would cost the city extra money. Closing the schools, given the explosive nature of Chicago's gang problem (which I've written about several times), would almost certainly put students, and probably police officers, at risk. Plus, with an undercurrent of gang violence and tension, it's unlikely that the new schools would be harbingers of academic achievement. Sending extra police to the new schools may wipe out the cost savings as well.
If you were head of CPS, what would you do?