36 Comments - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:18 pm: I don’t really see the closings as racist as much as they’re punishing people for being poor. It just so happens most of the poor people being punished are not white. - Formerly Known As... - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:23 pm: Chicago closes 50% of their mental health centers and 11% of their schools. But there’s plenty of money for new parks and bike lanes. Thanks, Rahm. If you thought the sweet new deal you gave teachers was going to buy you some breathing room, it appears you bet wrong. - Rail Sitter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:23 pm: Well I sure hope they close any schools that are racist. There is no room for racist schools in our society. - Lakefront Lib - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:31 pm: It’s really disheartening to see people taking this “racist” line of attack. I’m a CPS grad. Spent K-12 there. Yes, I’m white. And as you can guess from my handle, I’m from THAT part of town. But the numbers speak for themselves: people have moved out of the West Side and South Side black neighborhoods in droves in recent years (and with good reason). Many have injected new lifeblood into the Suburban black community (which I, for one, think is a welcome dose of diversity). But we cannot afford to keep paying for half empty schools. We don’t have the money. - Carl Nyberg - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:36 pm: Why is it that CPS can afford to build charter schools while closing existing schools? How much money is saved by closing existing schools anyways? - Precinct Captain - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:36 pm: @Obamist CBS 2 carried a CTU press conference yesterday live after afternoon NCAA action during a special edition newscast and the union reps and several speakers including ministers and Pat Camden from FOP railed against these closures. Lewis called them racist and classist, so they are playing up both angles. Also, with the way race and poverty are concentrated in Chicago, the racist/classist accusations pretty much go hand-in-hand whether you actually believe them or not. You don’t have to be a hood-wearing, cross-burning racist for your actions to have systemic racist effect. I don’t think that’s what is happening here with these closures, I think the racial effect is just incidental to the class stuff, but it the linked concentration of race and poverty in Chicago is undeniable. - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:45 pm: Sorry, I forgot the tag. - wordslinger - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:48 pm: Not to analyze a “tweet” too much, but I wonder, exactly, what is meant by racist? Is it a black vs. Hispanic thing? The black population has been in decline relative to the Hispanic population, both overall and in the schools. The number of Hispanic students now exceed black students in CPS. The white student population in CPS is about 9%. I suspect Charter Schools are in the mix here, too. Rahm wants to close public schools, and open more charters. UNO got on board and is making some good coin off the taxpayers with charters. Maybe Bruce Rauner should weigh in. He’s the charter schools investment guy. CPS enrollment by race, 2012, according to CPS: Student racial breakdown African-American: 41.6% Latino: 44.1% White: 8.8% Asian/Pacific Islander: 3.4% Native American: 0.4% http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/At-a-glance/Pages/Stats_and_facts.aspx - Skeeter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:56 pm: And people wonder why I send my kids to private school. Sorry, I prefer to have calm and rational people teaching my children. - Wensicia - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 1:57 pm: Considering the make-up of CPS enrollment, closing any school could be called racist, if you want to go there. Cheap shot. - Archie - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:01 pm: Insert identical comment made by Independent opening the gun comments. - Anonymous - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:08 pm: @ Nyberg, People want to send their children to the charter schools - that is why they are opening more charters while at the same time closing district schools. - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:10 pm: Truth in advertising here would indicate that the CPS is closing and consolidating schools to save money, but also because they save money with the charter schools model and it weakens the CTU. I don’t buy that it’s a race issue if that is where the half-empty schools are is in minority neighborhoods, which it appears is the case. Truth in advertising for the CTU would indicate that they are playing the race card to protect each and every one of their members’ jobs when that is not realistic given population declines. I really wish this wasn’t being thrown around, but they can’t just admit it’s about our jobs. If there are less kids in a given area, there are going to need to be less schools. The sad part given the state of things in these neighborhoods is that it means a longer, less safe trip to school for some of the kids. - Anonymous - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:18 pm: Gotta pay that 58 million dollar bill that the parking company just handed the city, Gotta start construction on the 55 million dollar “Maggie Daley Park”. Gotta keep building those 100k per mile bike lanes. Somebody has to pay. - Wumpus - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:25 pm: Wow, Skeeter, I am speechless. It is cheaper to transfer a teacher than it is to operate a 33% capacity building. People complaining that the gang territories make it harder for kids have given up, gangs win! I am not the biggest Rahm supporter, but man, he got handed a raw deal. Mayor Daley sold off all the revenue streams and took his yacht to escape the Titanic. Calling him the “murder mayor” is not a solution. He should call them th emurder teachers or murder parents. I guess I was not speechless after all. - Skeeter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:32 pm: Wumpus, what in the world are you talking about? What language of mine do you fine so offensive? - Niles Township - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:33 pm: CTU…shame on you. A murderer, really? In this city plagued with so much violence, you use such language. Closing schools is sad and needs careful planning to handle it, but it is a reality we need to confront. There are simply less people in Chicago and less school age students. Racist? Sure, as pointed out already by others, given CPS student population, there is no way around it. - Skeeter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:38 pm: Wumpus, let me guess — CPS grad? - Precinct Captain - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:41 pm: Ron, the Sun-Times did a map earlier this year or late last year of CPS utilization data and there were plenty of poor-performing and underutilized schools in non-black neighborhoods, so it is a race thing somewhat if you consider the intertwining of race and poverty in Chicago. Additionally, since Arne Duncan’s school closing/turnaround “Renaissance” program began the early 2000s, it was primarily black student populations for the schools targeted. Thus, there is a legitimate concern that CPS is targeting places in this round of closures where they know political opposition won’t be able to mobilize in an effective manner because the communities are already crippled by a number of ills, CPS among them. Is the goal of CPS to be racist? I don’t think so. Is the goal to target the poor? Quite possibly because poor communities just don’t have the same level of political access as wealthier areas. What makes the concern for race real, even if CTU is over the top sometimes, is the concentration of race and poverty in Chicago. As for jobs, yes CTU is worried about jobs, but why shouldn’t they be? Are all these transfers of students really going to lead to more efficient classroom use and good student to teacher ratios, or just warehousing of poor kids onto overwhelmed educators? - Skeeter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 2:50 pm: One note from the list of school closures that will be sure to enrage some people: “Close Yale into Harvard.” - Anonymous - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:03 pm: In both print media and on NPR I heard the objection repeated that kids will be in danger for “crossing gang lines.” I agree there is a safety issue, but it is misassigned; I hope that meme morphs from blaming CPS for closing the schools to more appropriately blaming the gangs for terrorizing the city. - Mariano Rivera - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:03 pm: Chicago lost more than 200,000 people the last decade. Schools need to be closed or consolidated. The areas that lost population? Oh yeah, where the schools are being closed or consolidated. Simple math. Some of these “schools” have 60 students. It is a joke to keep them open. Charter schools are being expanded. Where? Where the population has grown, such as in the Hispanic communities. - Jim - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:06 pm: Isn’t this fallout from that expensive union contract Rahm negotiated because of the strike? noted that the NYT story today didn’t even mention cost of the teachers contract or the role that is plays in the school closings. - Downstater - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:06 pm: Sick and tired of the same old same old cry of “racist”. And this from the same folks who are suppose to be teaching “all” the children in the CPS. Shameful, but not unexpected. When you can come up with facts, plat the race card. - DOWNSTATE - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:11 pm: Help me out here CTU, I am from downstate. But the head of CPS is African American. While 4 of the 7 members of the CPS school board are either Hispanic or African American. Your allegations of racism would be much easier to follow if you could just supply some names!! - Chris - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:31 pm: “I don’t really see the closings as racist as much as they’re punishing people for [for sending their kids to CPS]. It just so happens most of the [kids in CPS] are not white. ” Fixed that for ya, Obamist. Seriously, how can *anything* get done in CPS without having the greatest effect on non-whites? Would *improving* the schools (in a fantasy world) be considered a “race-based preference”??? - Really? - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 3:47 pm: Thats all they got left. Thats it. Sad really. Sorry when 85% of your school district is “minority” any closing will impact minorities. This is silly that these people are in charge of kids. Then we wonder where entitled, non-thinking, non-logical young adults we get come from. - Wumpus - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 4:58 pm: Nothing offensive Skeeter, just had you figured wrong. Thought you were 100% behind CPS/CTU. That is all. It was more of a compliment. Good weekend. - Amalia - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 4:58 pm: the message from the CPS is a mess. it should be clearer whether a school has only a small number of children, and therefore it’s way too expensive to operate a building, or if the school is failing in every way and new management or reshuffling has to happen. if a neighborhood does not have enough kids to support the operation of a school, say that more clearly. the schools closing statements are so unclear. - wordslinger - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 5:05 pm: Where are the alleged conservatives? How about vouchers? Let the money follow the kids? If you live in Austin, your kids can go to school in Oak Park? If you live in Englewood, your kids can got to Hinsdale Central? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? - Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 5:11 pm: …AND Karen Lewis, head of the CTU, and others in the various Chicago Neighborhoods both within and concerened about the Educational community , are actually PUBlicly bludgeoning Emanuel calling him “The Murder Mayor!!!”–and NOT just in referencing his extremely controversial and highly questionable School Closings….For who many in this Country who have actually been under the impression, at least, was a pretty savvy guy, and as his DISapproval Poll Ratings SKYrocket, I’ve just gotta ask: Does he GET it??? - Skeeter - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 5:31 pm: Just, For those not on the payroll, these comments make the union look absolutely appalling. Rahm should pay them. They are helping him. It confirms what a lot of us thought about Lewis. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 6:06 pm: Skeeter, I don’t have a dog in this race (or a kid in the system, thank The Lord) but I have to agree with you that this harsh talk is hurting the CTU more than Rahm. He clearly ain’t too worried yet. - Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 6:14 pm: …maybe he ain’t worried, because of his Super-Size Ego, but he oughta be…the murmurings in the African-American and fellow Minorities-Community about Rahm these days are NOT good–there’s a ground-swell of growing, strong discontent out there, and it he’s not careful, it could turn into a MASsive Sinkhole in that Community, and thus, in a major part of the Chicago Electorate which he MUST have in order to garner re-election. These people are blank-offed and he needs to do something about it!!! - Responsa - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 6:35 pm: Karen Lewis was just on PBS Newshour yelling and using words like “heinous” and “draconian” and fomenting class warfare. She said food deserts are terrible but now Chicago will have school deserts. Rahm, she says listens only to the rich influencers. I’m sorry, but that woman is an embarrassment. - Precinct Captain - Friday, Mar 22, 13 @ 7:07 pm: Responsa, I watched that Karen Lewis interview live and heard a distinct lack of “yelling.” And while some of her comments aren’t always “politically correct” as conservatives like to harp about, the odds were against her and CTU going into and during the strike, but the parents were on their side and that’s really all that matters when push comes to shove. @Amalia WBEZ has the full list of closure versus turnaroud. The schools in turnaround are where the staffs are being exiled en masse. The closure ones are the schools that are underutilized according to CPS. http://www.wbez.org/news/chicago-proposes-closing-53-elementary-schools-firing-staff-another-6-106202 What’s not being questioned, and what needs to be questioned in my opinion, is CPS’s statements about its budget deficit. CPS is running around saying they have $1 billion dollar budget deficit for next year, but that all these school closures and mergers will save $560 million over ten years, averaging $56 million per year. How much of that is upfront? What other cuts are being made? Why aren’t those things reflected in budget documents on the website? http://www.cps.edu/FY13Budget/Pages/BudgetOverview.aspx http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130321/chicago/cps-school-closings-list Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.