After closing 50 schools in 2013, did Chicago keep its promises?
WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times investigated promises made in 2013 to students and communities about what to expect after their schools shut down.
School Closures
Chicago’s 50 Closed Schools
The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ spent months investigating how the closing of 50 schools in 2013 — the nation’s largest number of public schools shuttered in a single action — changed the city, the school system, the children and their families.
In a series of stories, we explore three core promises made by city officials a decade ago: That the students would be better off after their school closed, that their new schools would be transformed and that their former school buildings would be reborn as community assets. Here is what we learned.
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Chicago’s 50 Closed Schools: A new approach in Englewood
Four years ago, Chicago tried an alternative to mass closings of underenrolled schools. Is this a path forward as the city’s enrollment continues to drop?
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10 years after mass CPS school closings, enrollment is even worse. What can be done?
Mayor Brandon Johnson says he opposes closing schools and our investigation shows they didn’t help students or communities. We explore the alternatives.
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CPS help was short-lived for Chicago schools that absorbed students from schools closed in 2013
The Sun-Times and WBEZ found that school officials failed to protect these welcoming schools and the $155 million invested in them over time.
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Chicago promised students would do better after closing 50 schools. That didn’t happen.
Chicago closed 50 schools in 2013, saying this would help students. But our analysis shows little changed academically for the affected kids.
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Ten years after Chicago closed 50 public schools, more than half remain shuttered and unused
The mayor promised the 46 buildings left would get a second life. The Sun-Times and WBEZ visited every building and community to see what happened.
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Chicago closed 50 public schools 10 years ago. Did the city keep its promises?
The city said the students would be better off, their new schools transformed and the closed buildings would be reborn as community assets.
