No school in Chicago because.......it's cold?

[nana053]

The Chicago public school district population has 85% of its students in poverty. The total number of students is 400,545 as of the 2013/2014 school year. Most middle class parents do not send their kids to the public schools even if they live in the city. I love the Reader article's idea - reduce poverty and you will end up with better schools.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago...t?oid=11526214

All this suggests a different approach for improving Chicago's public schools. Rather than concentrating on raising test scores, school and city officials should focus on sharply reducing CPS's low-income proportion. Do that, and test scores and graduation rates will take care of themselves.

[Drover]

I ask again, did this 85% poverty rate start just yesterday or something? What was the poverty rate before it became routine to close schools because it was cold outside? How many kids lost fingers and toes to frostbite when they still had to go to school even when it was cold ? How does it affect impoverished parents who have to miss yet another day of work because the school district has decided for them that it's not safe for their kid to be outside? Or are they being left at home by themselves because their impoverished parent(s) can ill-afford to keep taking hits on their paychecks -- and if so, are we really providing those kids a net safety benefit?

Here's another suggestion the Reader would probably never consider: stop accommodating the values that contribute to poverty and crappy schools and start holding parents accountable to do the very basic things they're obligated to do to take care of their kids.

[treemoni]

Originally Posted by Drover

Here's another suggestion the Reader would probably never consider: stop accommodating the values that contribute to poverty and crappy schools and start holding parents accountable to do the very basic things they're obligated to do to take care of their kids.

What are "values that contribute to poverty"? Never heard that one before, and I'm interested to know what this concept entails.