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Chicago's School Closings: From A Civil Rights Perspective To A Human Rights Perspective, Lincoln Hill

Center for the Human Rights of Children

In May 2013, the Chicago Board of education approved a plan to close 49 of the city’s elementary schools and one of its high schools1 resulting in the largest mass school closure in United states history.2 Those against the school closings argued that the decision was discriminatory considering the racial and socioeconomic disparities of children directly affected. With Black children representing just 40% of the district’s students, 80% of the children impacted by the closings were Black students living in predominantly Black and impoverished neighbor- hoods in the south and West sides of the city.

Despite national criticism and protests …