Activists file lawsuit to stop D.C. school closures
Opponents of the District’s plan to close 15 under-enrolled public schools filed a lawsuit Friday in an effort to force Chancellor Kaya Henderson to keep them open.
The complaint alleges that the proposed closures, which are clustered in low-income neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park and the Anacostia River, would disproportionately affect African American children, poor children and students with disabilities.
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Black students account for 93 percent of students affected by the proposed closures, according to the complaint, but compose 72 percent of the school system’s population. Poor children make up 82 percent of the affected students but 70 percent of the larger population, it says.
“We have proclaimed that you can’t have one city unless you have one standard,” said Johnny Barnes, an attorney for plaintiffs organized by activist group Empower D.C. “You can’t treat students west of the park different and better than you treat students
