Making Some Sense of It

I'm not necessarily a Rahm Emanuel fan.  I've also had plenty to say about the upcoming closures of many CPS schools.  Too many are on the potential chopping block list and too many will likely be closed, never to re-open.

But Emanuel, any partisanship aside, made some strong points about why some schools need to be shuttered in the coming year.  As Rahm said, "there has been a big change in the city over the last decade and we need to make sure that our schools are reflective of the change in our city."  Yes, many parts of the westside and southside have seen their populations shrink while businesses disappeared along with the residents.  It is hard to argue this point.

I also have no problems with the mayor stating that "we have to make the adjustments so every child and every receiving school is a high-quality school."  Again, that makes complete sense.

The city, for far too long, has seen a crumbling of various neighborhoods.  What needed to take place, prior to these closings, was a plan to revitalize the various communities.  Back then factories needed to be kept open, jobs created, crime squashed and improvements made.  Since these actions weren't taken, we are left, sadly, to close up shop.