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Tracy's avatar

This made national headlines this AM because school closures is a national story right now. For all the quotes from board members about equity, this was the national headline: “Board votes to close only bilingual school in north suburban Chicago district..”

My sense from following closing school stories is there are board members in your district who are trying to right perceived wrongs that happened decades ago through current day standards and it is like pushing a square peg in a round hole. No school district with segregated housing got this right, to be fair, or has found a great solution. Families benefit from community schools they can walk to, but kids benefit from integration, schools that offer programs that attract families, and districts that are solvent.

I think districts will be best served by planning for the students they have now and are projected to have in the next few years. It is imperfect, but government is imperfect. Nationally, Black & White majority districts are facing growing Latino populations and the attention to that reality & what they may need is slower than one would hope.

This situation is so sad for the affected families. It will not go away just because board members hope it wills

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Tom Hayden's avatar

I have often said that what the school board wants is a time machine, not a new school

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Christopher DeNardo's avatar

I’d love to read more about the way other cities with similar histories of segregated housing have addressed this dilemma, either mistakes to learn from or examples to follow.

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Jun 11, 2024
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Jun 11, 2024Edited
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Tom Hayden's avatar

Hey folks - don't be offended but this is too personal in terms of criticism than I like in the comment section for non public officials. I don't know the full story on this and don't really have a ton of time this week to dig into this to validate these claims. I don't want to open myself up to a defamation claim though, so I am going to delete. Email me tom@foiagras.com if issues.

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