City Room™ - Education - CPS To Close 22 Schools

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City RoomTM Public Affairs coverage from our award-winning staff

CPS To Close 22 Schools
Produced by Linda Lutton on Friday, January 16, 2009

At the Harvard School of Excellence, Arne Duncan recommended today that 22 CPS schools be shut down.

Chicago Public Schools today announced they’ll close or consolidate 22 schools.

The majority of the schools will be closed for under-enrollment. Six will be shut down for poor performance. CPS plans to turn four of those schools over to outside school management firms. Schools chief Arne Duncan said the district still has too many schools lagging behind.

DUNCAN: Where we see this happening we have an obligation to the families to bring them something better. You only get one chance at a quality education.

Some teachers and parents have vowed to fight the decision. Public hearings will be held over the next month. The board will vote on the closings at its February meeting.

The district has closed 61 schools since 2004, while opening 75 new schools under its Renaissance 2010 plan. Most of those are run by outside management firms or nonprofit agencies.

Listen to an interview on the school closings

Related story: "School Closings: A Community Reacts"