Some Urban Districts Facing School Closings in Faltering Economy

Protests have been building, a union president has been arrested, and angry teachers and families across the nation have been crying foul over the potential closings of hundreds of urban schools. With many schools seeing decreasing student populations and budget cuts, closing neighborhood schools to consolidate seems like the only solution, but such solutions comes with casualties, like teacher layoffs and the loss of intimate neighborhood schools in exchange for school’s with larger student populations, less curriculum offerings and decreased individualized attention. While districts in every state have suffered, some of the larger school districts being hit include those in Philadelphia, Chicago, the District of Columbia and Newark.

Philadelphia

According to Philly.com, the Philadelphia school district is facing a budget gap, a student population decrease of more than 53,000 and a number of buildings that it cannot afford to sustain.

The School Reform Commission (SRC) has proposed to close 29 schools, which would translate to one in eight of Philadelphia’s schools. Teachers and community members have protested in large numbers at the last few SRC meetings, and the outcry has drawn the attention of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, who says, “The action is to protest the closing of schools rather than fixing them, and the destabilizing of neighborhoods. We have proof of this already. We've seen it in Chicago. When you close schools, it creates unsafe situations.”

Still, the school superintendent, William R Hite Jr., sees no other solution as the school closings will save the district at least $24 million. Tensions have become so high between the SRC and school supporters that the New York Times reported that Weingarten and 19 other individuals were recently arrested at a protest.

Chicago

The third largest district in the nation is looking at the possible closing of 129 schools over the course of a few years. The Huffington Post reports that the district hopes to absorb the poorest and lowest-performing schools into some if its higher-performing schools.

Teachers and neighborhood schools supporters see the closing of 13 percent of the district’s schools as unprecedented, and some school supporters have also deemed the plan racist as schools in the west and south sides — schools with majority black populations — would be disproportionately affected.

The district has until March 31 to release its final list of proposed school closings.

Other Suffering Districts

In addition to Chicago and Philadelphia, the New York Times found Washington D.C. and Newark to be facing huge budgetary hurdles. School officials claim that they have little to no choice in these matters and, ultimately, students from poorer, under-performing neighborhoods will get the benefits of attending higher-performing schools.

Meanwhile, local schools are often considered to be community “refuges.” In support of saving neighborhood schools, the Philadelphia Home and School Council President Rosemarie Hatcher said, “The school is one of the foundations of the community. It’s like a village. The schools know our kids, and they look out for our kids.” Some families have expressed concerns that closing local schools will force their children to travel much further for an education, often through less than safe areas.

Closings could also increase absenteeism and even dropout rates. Pauline Lipman, an education professor from the University of Chicago, predicts that many neighborhoods will suffer economically and mentally. She says, “These school closings have been happening in communities that were already destabilized by the dismantling of public housing, by gentrification and effects of the economic crisis.”

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