Schools Were Closed Down 10 Years Ago, but why?
There was a proposition that was made by the City of Chicago. Therefore, this caused them to shut down several schools in order to follow through with their proposition. Many of these schools were very important to those that were in the surrounding neighborhoods. Therefore, it is without a doubt that the community was counting on the city of Chicago to keep its promise. However, as of yet, it does not seem that Chicago has been able to keep their promise. The community, therefore, is showing its disapproval and anger towards the city. They were closed because the schools were seemingly not achieving such great standards. “The researchers found multiple problems. Academic achievement — as measured by standardized test scores, which has been favored by Emanuel — were not what was expected,” according to the Washington Post. Therefore, closing the schools would allow room for work to be done on them.
There were also issues in regard to the buildings themselves. There were a lot of rusty pipes and a lot of damage within the building itself. Therefore, that further prompted the schools to be closed down.
What Was The Promise That Was Made by Chicago?
The City of Chicago had made a promise regarding each of the schools they closed down. They closed down a total of 50 schools, and for the past 10 years, have remained closed and nothing has been done to them or for them. Therefore, this leaves a lot of people questioning whether they were to keep their promise. A particular example is an ex-student of one of the schools that got closed down. He noticed that nothing was being done for that school. This completely shattered him and his family. “The school closing marked a breaking point, the Smiths say, with the mid-century building now a shell, stripped of pipes and anything valuable left inside,” according to WBEZ Chicago. This is only one of the 50 schools that were closed. This goes to show the potential state of the other 49 schools that were closed down.
Risks Come Along With Those Buildings, Something Needs to be Done, and Fast in Chicago
To many, these buildings standing there would really not interest them whatsoever. However, there are a lot of negative implications that come with having these buildings stand and having nothing to be done with them. “The long term question is: what are the options for those buildings that generate no outside interest? Three years ago, CPS conceded that there’s a risk and cost in letting them stand empty too long,” according to ABC 7 News. Therefore, these buildings being left standing there would incur no benefit to the community. However, there is a plan that CPS is coming to terms with the City of Chicago, in regard to what the future of these buildings will be.
Future of These Buildings, and CPS
CPS wants to keep these buildings intact. However, CPS wants them to actually be functional instead of having nothing done within them. “CPS said it intends to keep marketing all the remaining closed buildings, and if there are no viable offers, the board will consider transferring those sites to a governmental or non-profit entity that would benefit the community,” according to ABC 7 News.
Therefore, there is a hope that in the near future, there can be some action taken to make these buildings functional once again. Even though the community is clearly disappointed that nothing was done for these buildings in such a long time, there is happiness in the fact that in the near future, these buildings will become functional once again.
Written by David Loran Jr
Sources:
WBEZ Chicago: Chicago closed 50 public schools 10 years ago. Did the city keep its promises?
The Washington Post: Chicago promised that closing nearly 50 schools would help kids in 2013. A new report says it didn’t.
ABC7 News: What has become of 50 vacant CPS schools closed in 2014?
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Neal Wellons’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Shutter Runners’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
