CHICAGO (AP) — Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Public Schools have spent millions on new schools and pricey additions while putting little effort into creating more racially and socioeconomically diverse schools.
Documents obtained by WBEZ-FM show Emanuel plans to continue this pattern, using revenue from a record property tax hike passed last year. He justifies this spending because schools are overflowing with students.
But there’s been little attempt to try to get white, middle- and upper-middle-class students at those schools to instead attend one of the more than 300 Chicago schools that are deemed underused, even when those schools are nearby.
A spokeswoman for Emanuel says he declined to comment. The mayor’s office wrote in an email that Emanuel is following through on his commitment to invest in the city’s schools.
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