Two federal lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, allege that closing up to 54 schools at once in Chicago would violate key provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Times reports.
The Chicago Public Schools whittled the list of schools being considered for closure down from 129 earlier this year, but in one lawsuit, many residents still say the closures would cause a “significant disruption” to special-education students. The plaintiffs, three Chicago parents who are seeking class action status, are asking for a temporary injunction to delay the closings for a year so that the district and communities can determine the best way to deal with special-education students who will have to change schools.
A second lawsuit, backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, also claims the simultaneous closure of 54 schools would disrupt services for special-education students:
“There is no way that in a few short months the Board can responsibly do the counseling and provide the support services these children with disabilities need,” the Chicago Sun-Times quoted CTU financial secretary Kristine Mayle, as saying at a Loop news conference. Ms Mayle is a former special-education teacher.
The CTU suit also adds claims that this unprecedented action would discriminate against African-American children, in violation of their civil rights. As evidence, the suit claims that more than 90 percent of the students at the 72 schools CPS has closed since 2001 were African-American, but only about 42 percent of students in Chicago’s public classrooms are black. This suit charges that the closures would “needlessly uproot, transfer and destabilize the children” and seeks to stop the closures permanently.
The district says it will save about $560 million over 10 years by closing the schools on the current list, although that figure has been disputed. In opposition to the closings, a few independent hearing officers have suggested that closing about a dozen schools would result in unsafe conditions for the city’s youngest students, who may have to cross gang turf lines to attend a “welcoming” school.
The school board is under no obligation to heed the advice of the hearing officers, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has reminded Chicagoans that he hasn’t made any promises when it comes to following the advice of hearing officers.
“We have to make the changes that are necessary so our children don’t continue to go to schools that are not achieving the goals that they need to achieve academically and locking them into schools that can’t do that,” the Sun-Times quoted him as saying. He added that he appreciates the work of the independent hearing officers as well as the involvement of about 20,000 people who showed up at the comprehensive hearings CPS conducted.
The school board is expected to vote on the list of school closings on Wednesday, May 22.
