On Wednesday, the Chicago School Board voted to close 49 elementary schools, “in what is believed to be the biggest single mass shutdown of schools in U.S. history”
Fifty-three schools were originally scheduled to be shut down. The closures come as part of Chicago’s plan to deal with it’s massive $1B deficit. The schools were shut down for “failing to meet academic standards.”
Who are the biggest losers here?
“Today is a day of mourning for the children of Chicago,” Chicago Teachers’ Union President Karen Lewis said in a statement. “Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board, acting at the behest of a mayor who has no vision for improving the education of our children.”
The big winners are taxpayers and the poor children who had to depend on these institutions for their education.