Before the passage of No Child Left Behind, public schools were seldom closed for low test scores. School officials and the public understood that low test scores reflected the social and economic conditions in which students live. It made no sense to punish the school because its students were living in poverty. After NCLB and Race to the Top, more and more urban schools are being closed to punish them for their low test scores.
A reader suggested that we read the following research brief:
“Here is a recent Issue Brief from Research for Action that looks into school closings in Washington DC, Pittsburgh, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Quick but great read:
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The real enemy are the administrators and high government officials who produce destructive policies that are driven by ideology. “Research Based” is a junk phrase as used in education. If they did real research it would be easy to see what is going on. The problem is that almost everyone of these organizations people trust are bought and sold by the same people who own the politicians. Just look at who funds who. If you cross your funders your easy life is over when they shut off the money. So people say “Seig Heil” and that is it.
I still can’t believe how easy it has been to close down minority schools and turn them to corporatized for-profit schools. Shameful.
It would be interesting to examine privatized prisons and incarceration rates in the areas of public schools being closed and morphing into charter schools. My suspicion is that the defenders of deprivation are intent upon creating and supporting public policies that feed the prison pipeline. Just look at the mess in Louisiana. The most aggressive school voucher laws and the prison capital of the WORLD.