CPS School Closings

Late Wednesday the CPS brass unveiled the list of those schools who might face closure this coming spring.  The list was long!!!  129 schools are on the chopping block.  The list will be parred down with a final determination being made by March 31st.

Particularly hard hit, as expected were schools on the west and southside.  These are some of the areas where there are many empty seats within the school buildings.  They also happen to be in some of the neighborhoods where poverty and unemployment abounds.

Among the schools that are targeted for closing are some of the schools that our charity works with each year.  Here's a list of the schools we work with that are in the mix in terms of being closed; Chalmers, Pope, King, Dumas, Fuller, Banneker, Holmes, Lafayette, Von Humboldt, Songhai, West Pullman, Parkman, Bethune and Jenner.

When this news came out last night, it was rather hard to fathom the fact that some of these schools will be shuttered next year.  I thought of displaced kids, great teachers losing their jobs, neighborhoods robbed of a community pillar and the further erosion of community through the loss of their school.

Until the axe falls, SCC will continue to help the students, aid the teachers and assist families to the best of our ability.

Dick