Chicago to Shutter 50 Public Schools: Is Historic Mass Closure An Experiment in Privatization?

[frazzled]

25. Don't know that class sizes are affected that greatly

Depends on how the previous and new schools were staffed. It could be a question of whether there were, say, two second grade classrooms (of 25 kids each) in the old, and five second-grade classrooms (of the same density) in the new. I don't have that information

As for the gangs (and this is the reason the high schools were not touched in this plan) ... don't you think it's time we took them in hand and stopped letting them rule our kids and our city? If these younger kids can be safely (and I do mean safely) put in schools together, there is likely to be a better outcome by the time they get to high school. We can't let our city become ruled—terrorized might be the term— by "warlords" that control little blocks of turf forever.


It's true that I do not have any children in CPS to be affected (my kids are grown up, though my son does live on the South Side). But I did send them to public, inner-city schools in another city when they were growing up. Although there was a school two blocks from our house, I chose to put them on a bus to attend a school several miles away--actually, to a more dangerous neighborhood and more integrated school-- because we liked the program better. At that time, our city was still under a desegregation program that put different types of programs into different buildings (fundamentals, contemporary, open, Montessori, continuous progress) and let families choose which of those programs in their general quadrant of the city they wanted their kids to attend. This led to a good deal of self-selected integration of neighborhoods and socio-economic and racial makeup in the schools. The nice school near me was a "fundamentals" school (for kids who needed more basic academic work and a more structured environment for discipline and attention). I chose the "continuous progress" school because it fit my kids' learning style better.

I don't particularly subscribe fully to the return to "neighborhood" schools (as much as I realize that the return of the two-parent working family may make it a more appealing option). To me, "neighborhood" has meant a return to more "separate but equal." I've seen what mixing up kids from different neighborhoods and backgrounds can achieve, and it is a beautiful thing for everyone.

Lastly, I know no one wants to lose their beloved school. Change is hard. But let's see what happens in, say, two or three years. It may be that your family's kids end up liking their new schools just as well and have the opportunity to meet all kinds of new kids and teachers. It could be a failure or it could end up being a really good thing. I'm open to seeing what happens.