Illinois

Education officials use a variety of justifications to defend the closures, citing everything from budget concerns to promises of better opportunities for students. But as this new infographic from the OTL Campaign illustrates, these justifications don’t hold up to scrutiny. Here's what the evidence from past and current school closures says.

Every revolution needs a declaration. Against a backdrop of surging grassroots discontent with how the nation's K-12 public schools are currently governed, a diverse coalition of leaders from across the country have joined in support of "An Education Declaration to Rebuild America."

When the student organizers from Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) aren't out protesting high-stakes testing and school closures in their city, they're fighting for fair discipline in their schools. In particular, they've started campaigning this past week to end disparate discipline policies in Chicago's charter schools.

The BUILD Initiative recently invited teams from eight states across the country to participate in a two-day “mock grant opportunity" focused on developing state-level plans to eliminate disparities in young children's access to health services. Ensuring all students are healthy and ready for school is a key part of closing the opportunity gap in education.

The Chicago Public Schools district's pressure on schools to raise test scores actually leads to students getting pushed out of school. Many of the juniors who were demoted at my school started talking about dropping out because it was such a discouraging experience.

In an inspiring display of cross-sector collaboration, the New York City School-Justice Partnership Task Force has released an action plan for NYC officials to reduce the use of suspensions, summonses, and arrests by building common cause between different agencies and communities and implementing positive discipline strategies.

Proponents of charter schools and charter expansion consistently overlook serious issues with how these schools can selectively shape their student enrollment. A report from the National Education Policy Center describes 12 practices that charter schools use to push out or discourage enrollment of students with special needs, those with low test scores, English learners, or students in poverty.

Chicago education officials voted on May 22nd to close 50 public schools, the largest instance of mass school closures in the country and one that disproportionately affects students of color and low-income students. If the protests in the months leading up to the vote and the actions since then are anything to go by, partents, students, teachers and whole communities have a different opinion about how to fix their schools – by investing in them rather than closing them.