Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A few weeks ago the Chicago school board voted to close 50 schools. Some other cities are doing likewise.
Why is this happening more now? Schools have always had funding problems. Now suddenly there are more closings than ever before.
lately i've noticed urban schools in the midwest shutting doors at various schools. Toledo, Ohio where I went to college 10 years ago has since shuttered one high school (the school was greatly under utilized as it had 3 stories and for the last 10 years before its closing the 3rd floor had been chained off due to not being needed) and in the last 2 years eliminated all 8 of its junior highs in order to save all of its elementary schools (every elementary school in TPS is now k-8). 2 years ago due to budget issues the BOE in Toledo voted to cancel all middle school / 9th grade and "Olympic" sports (i.e. wrestling, swimming, cross country, tennis, etc....) and to "save" money and as a result saw kids open enroll or in some cases up and move out of the city for the suburbs and greater opportunities. the end result of this has seen several of its high schools lose kids left and right. i know the school i use to coach football at back in 2003, was around 1,000 kids. last time i checked their enrollment in 2013 was a little under 700 kids.
Lima, OH (My hometown) in the last 3 years has had to shuffle kids around to their schools to keep them open due to enrollment loss. the money is there b/c levies get passed but its still makes it tough to keep facilities open justifiably if half the building is being used.
I'm pretty sure Detroit Public's woes and issues have been discussed and pointed out for a while now.
IMO Chicago is one of if not the only major midwestern city to stave off total destruction because its economy is not that of detroit, cleveland, pittsburgh, etc.....
IMO Chicago is one of if not the only major midwestern city to stave off total destruction because its economy is not that of detroit, cleveland, pittsburgh, etc.....
???
Pittsburgh's economy is NOTHING like Detroit and Cleveland! Why did you include it in this post?
From a NY Times article newer than the article above:
Quote:
Chicago now has 145,000 fewer school-age children than it had more than a decade ago, according to district data, and the district had already closed about 100 schools since 2001. In March, the Chicago Public Schools identified 53 more elementary schools that it planned to shutter, expecting to save about $500 million over 10 years in a district facing a $1 billion deficit.
That's pretty much what I was going to ask. Maybe the demographics has been changing in such a way that there is less demand (less kids).
That is why the elementary school closed in my area. This area used to have very large farm families so the extra classrooms were needed.
That is not the case now.
There are 37,000 empty seats in the higher performing Chicago schools. Why keep lower performing schools open? Most of the schools are close to the schools that are closing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
