Barbara Byrd-Bennett has promised that no school closed this year will be handed over to a charter. -- Chicago Tribune (April 23, 2013)
When Byrd-Bennett was first pushing her plan to close hundreds of public schools, she promised angry parents and community groups that she wouldn't allow any of the newly-closed schools to become charter schools. But as we noted at the time, she was only playing verbal sleight-of-hand. When the charter operators cringed, BBB winked at them, whispering,
Don't worrry. There will be plenty of money and opportunities for you. The Trib editorial board even called it,
"A promise worth breaking."
Yes, we understand that the political heat on closings is intense and that many parents are furious that neighborhood schools close while charters expand and thrive. The vow not to open a charter in a shuttered elementary school was intended to defuse suspicion that this is just an exercise designed to promote charters over traditional schools
Even while some 30,000 students, most in African-American communities,were being
