After
shuttering 50 school buildings in 2013, Chicago Public Schools is under a moratorium
on further closings until 2018. Commenting on the dichotomy of closing existing
schools while spending tens of millions to build new ones, former CPS Vice President
Jesse Ruiz says: “I’ve always said that instead of cornerstones with the year
the school was built, we should put expiration dates and not have folks believe
that a given facility or building is what is always going to be there for that
community.”
Rapid
growth of school choice alternatives, including charter schools and selective enrollment
programs, without a comprehensive city wide plan for school building locations
has created substantial under-enrollment at traditional neighborhood school
buildings. Twenty two attendance boundary high schools in the city draw less
than 13% of their students from within their attendance areas.
