Chicago made headlines in 2013 for the largest mass school closing in the nation's history. Ten years later, Mayor Brandon Johnson, who offered promises of staunch education reform, will now have to work collaboratively with the city's school system to develop what remains of the closed schools.
Johnson, a Democrat who made education reform a key component of his mayoral campaign, will be faced with potentially repurposing over 20 vacant school buildings that were part of the school closure in 2013.
Despite all of the newly added services these repurposed buildings have provided over the years, 57% of the buildings still remain vacant. Pedro Martinez, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the pandemic was partly to blame for redevelopment delays. The amount of money to renovate and restore these buildings is something Chicago Public School officials say they cannot calculate. The school system pays to secure and maintain the empty buildings, and while it costs less now than it did when operating a fully staffed and operational school, the cost to clean up the grounds and replace materials cuts into the projected savings needed for redevelopment.
Education served as a major focal point for the 2023 mayoral race in Chicago, as both runoff candidates had ties to the system: Paul Vallas served as the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and Johnson was a teacher before becoming a Cook County commissioner.
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