Chicago Made History By Closing 50 Public Schools In Under Two Minutes

People watching the vote did not even realize what had happened. Instead of reading the name of each school, the Chicago Board of Education secretary read a list of numbers assigned to resolutions to close each facility. Then, the board president used a parliamentary procedure to call for one group vote to decide the outcome. The entire vote lasted only 90 seconds. The Chicago Sun Times described the proceeding, saying "CPS makes history, closing scores of schools in less time than it takes to boil an egg." Because of the closings, about 27,000 children will be forced to change schools, and numerous teachers and staff will be out of a job. The President of Chicago's Teachers Union, Karen Lewis, criticized the deceptive procedure, saying the board "should have had the courage to do this deed in the open and correctly." And she's right. It's bad enough that Chicago's public education system is being gutted, but the cowardly way it was done adds insult to injury.