Rahm Emanuel's schools legacy: Record grad rates, but he also closed 50 schools

Mayor Rahm Emanuel boasts of record high school graduation and college acceptance rates and improved test scores on his watch.

But the record Chicagoans most likely will remember from his tenure is that he closed 50 schools — more than ever had been closed at one time in the United States, most of them in African American neighborhoods.

And the closings were carried out by a Chicago Public Schools chief he picked, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who later went to prison in a corruption scandal that was his administration’s biggest in eight years in office.

Emanuel’s greatest pride as mayor has been CPS’ improvement. During a recent speech at the City Club of Chicago, the mayor said education is “where I’ve tried the hardest and probably pushed the hardest.”

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/rahm-emanuel-chicago-education-legacy-graduation-rates-improved-closed-50-schools/