State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) said this week that she is disheartened by the process used by Chicago Public Schools to determine the 129 schools now targeted for potential closing.

Hunter was adamant that she believes a school closings moratorium is needed to give students, parents, community residents and CPS time to adequately assess safety, social and educational issues these closings may present. 33 of the 129 listed schools facing potential closing lie within the boundaries of the 3rd Senate District.

“City and state officials, as well as students, parents and community residents, have been kept in the dark and out of secret meetings where these school closing decisions were made,’” said Hunter.

Hunter maintains that she is not opposed to all the decisions made in respect to the schools in

her district targeted for closing. However, she insists on the board taking more time to meet with elected officials, parents from each school and community residents to consider the following vital issues:

Transportation: How will these school closings affect students’ ability to get to and from school every day, especially if they are rerouted to a school far away? What affects will these transportation issues have on the parents of students? Have we considered the unnecessary financial burden in respect to transportation school closings could potentially place on parents?

Safety: How will safe passage of students that will potentially cross over into rival gang territories as a result of a school closing be affected?

Economics: How will funding be allocated to remaining schools that absorb the new students?

Services: How will receiving schools be accommodated to better serve a larger base of students?

Education: Will students be forced to go to a school that has a lower performance level?

“There are 81 schools in the 3rd  District and over 40 percent of them are facing possible closure,” Hunter said. “This is personal for me. We have to do what’s right here for our community and our children, and that means taking the time to think things through and to hold off closing our schools until the community has the opportunity to provide some input.”