Andrew DuBois

Staff Writer

    Teachers in Chicago fear for their students. They know that when many of the schools shut down their students will simply stop attending classes all together.  Those who opposed the closings took to the streets to protest. Tekeeva Thompson, a lunchroom attendant at one of the schools, believes that the school district is making a terrible mistake. Thompson stated that many of the children attending these schools come from violent homes. For some of the students these schools are their only escape.

    One of the many problems with the closings is that many students who wanted to  go to school would have to travel through gang turf in order to get to school. Many of the protesters believe that the planned closings are going to do more harm than good in the long run.

    However not everyone thinks that the closings are such a bad idea. Those in favor of the closings argue that maintaining half-empty, aging buildings doesn’t make much sense. The closings will save the district of Chicago $560 million dollars over the course of the next decade.