CPS Plans For School Closures Uncovered By Tribune [UPDATE]

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 19, 2012 7:00PM

Photo credit: City of Chicago/Brooke Collins

The Tribune obtained an internal memo from Chicago Public Schools that showed the Emanuel administration was working on a list of school closures and how to handle the attendant reaction from parents when those closures went public.

The memo, titled a “working draft,” doesn’t name specific schools, but a section of the document contains a breakdown for closing 95 schools, primarily on the South and West sides, and weighs the costs and benefits of several closure scenarios. Most damning is the date on the memo: Sept. 10, the day the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike. The Tribune reported during the strike that CPS and the Chicago School Board were looking to close or consolidate anywhere between 80 and 120 schools; only one School Board member would confirm those reports. The memo and its date indicate CPS was further along in the planning than they originally indicated. The news of the memo’s existence comes weeks after new CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and Mayor Rahm Emanuel said they would like to see a five-year moratorium on school closures after they submit their final list March 31.

This is why parents of CPS students don’t trust the school board.

This is why the Chicago Teachers Union remained in attack mode even after agreeing on a new contract.

Byrd-Bennett admitted the school system “has no credibility” within the community and that parents of students believe the school closure discussion doesn’t adequately involve them. News of this memo’s existence doesn’t help matters.

Neither does the tone of CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll, who may as well have told the Tribune “so what?” when pressed for answers about the memo.

"In terms of whatever document you have, I don't care when it's dated, as of today there's no list and there's no plan," Carroll said. "Maybe there were multiple, different scenarios passed around at some point, I don't know, but there's no list of schools.

"When CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett took this position, she made it very clear that we were going to do this differently than how it's been done in the past," which is why she appointed a commission to take public input on school closings, Carroll said.

Carroll likely knows more than she’s saying. The Reader’s Michael Miner wrote in November that Carroll seemed to operate as Emanuel’s eyes and ears at CPS, to the chagrin of Brizard.

"She was aware of strategies I wasn't aware of," Brizard told (Miner). "She knew things I didn't know."

George Schmidt, a longtime fly in CPS’ ointment, said Carroll "was not hired to provide the public with information, but to manage the most successful spin cycle since the invention of the non-ringer clothes washer."

That spin cycle is Emanuel’s call for a longer school day, merit-based pay, and increasing the number of charter schools.

Update: Byrd-Bennett told the Sun-Times the memo obtained by the Tribune reflects plans that were in action under Brizard "does not reflect what I propose or what I endorse." School Board member Andrea Zopp, who's also president of Chicago's Urban League, said she would like to see more specifics regarding schools targeted for closure so parents and community groups can respond.