Emanuel - backed by Obama - wants to close one fifth of Chicago's public schools, let Bill Gates open 60 private ones

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World Socialist - A central issue in the struggle of Chicago teachers is the plan by the city, backed by the Obama administration, to dismantle large sections of the school district, closing dozens of public schools and opening new privately-operated charter schools.

On Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported on the plans of Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel to close between 80 and 120 public schools, mainly in the most impoverished working class parts of the city, including Bronzeville, North Lawndale, Garfield Park and Englewood. This would involve laying off thousands of teachers.

The Chicago Public Schools  the third largest school district in the country, currently manages 600 schools. Thus the city aims to eliminate up to one fifth of the public schools.

At the same time, the Tribune reports, “In a proposal to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CPS officials have laid out a plan to create 60 more charter schools over five years.” This would bring the total number of charter schools up to 160 and the total number of public schools down to 480.