Mike Klonsky reports on a study of Rahm Emanuel’s unprecedented closing of 50 schools in one fell swoop.
Did the children end up in better schools or not?
Rahm’s school superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett says yes. She says:
“…the report “demonstrates that we kept our promises and upheld our commitments to our students and school communities… These results are based on the strategic, thoughtful, coordinated approach we took to managing the transition process.”
But:
“”I think the main takeaway for us, or for me at least, is nearly all the displaced students attended schools that were higher performing than the closed ones. But those schools were not substantially better than the ones that closed,” said Marisa de la Torre, one of the study’s authors.
“The things that keep coming back again and again are these issues of safety and transportation and not enough good options near where the families live.”
Mike asks:
“Are we looking at the same study?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Not all children are thirsty little sponges eager to learn. You can take the child out of those “problem” schools but that doesn’t take the “problems” out of the child.
If you move the children with issues to a new building, those new teachers will have to deal with those same issues that the former ones were trying to resolve (except they’ll be starting from scratch).
Is the solution to keep closing down schools, whether public or charter, until someone gets it right (if that’s even possible)? I call that the dance of the lemmings – and guess who’s leading them over a cliff?
Ellen T Klock
“Are we looking at the same study?”
Yep, just through different eyes!
And watch as the ratings at the “better” schools take a nosedive. One of the elementary schools CPS closed had a special program for autistic children; they have been sent somewhere else (after their former teachers may have spent years learning their needs and earning their trust). One of the middle schools CPS closed had as its designated receiving school an elementary school that did not even have 7th and 8th grade. And that doesn’t even begin to grapple with the point of view of children who are shuffled around as if moving children were like moving boxes. It’s taking kids who weren’t doing well in school to begin with and making them more alienated and unhappy and fearful than they were before. Soon all the receiving schools will get poor ratings, too — paving the way for more closures, so we can have more charters. I mean, more “options.”
Most of the receiving schools were only rated as slightly better. My understanding is that in order to see improvement in the performance of the children being displaced, the receiving school has to be much better. So not only are they not being placed in schools that will help them they are left with safety and transportation issues.
It was never about the children, was it? As another reader said, they were treated like objects that could be moved from spot to spot. A piece of luggage.
Thank you, Diane, for stating, “It was never about the children, was it?”
Right, it was never about the children. Follow the money. Plus, I think a lot of those making policies in education need mental health services and/or go into deep therapy. When I look at the deformers words and actions, I get upset and then feel very, very sorry for them and those connected to them.