History of Education in Chicago

CPS schools are mostly made up of Black and Latino students, many who come from low-income families. However, racist policies have spatailly confined black and brown students in Chicago neighbourhoods. From 'Willis Wagons' in the 60s to the closing down of neighbourhood schools in 2013, the legacy of segregation and inequity of access to resources permeates into education. The deteriorating buildings and underenrollment in CPS schools justify their closing down. The abundance of alternative schools such as charter schools, magnet schools, and selective-enrollement schools attest to the poor quality of education in Chicago’s public schooling system. CPS used much of their funding in constructing special schools which cater to middle-class white students. The idea of 'choice' is controversial as it abandons existing neighbourhood public schools. The marketization of education has been criticized to profit off of black and brown bodies and continue to do so systemically.

In LeClaire Courts, Hearst Public Elementary School had portables (1970-71) in the public housing site to accomodate the overenrollment to an underenrollment as a result of the displacement of public housing residents in 2011. Such significant event lead Hearst to participate in such marketization of education by specializing as a fine arts magnet school to remain in function. In a matter of years, Hearst was no longer under the threat of school closure to reaching a Level 1+ SQRP rating.