By James B. Kelleher
CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The Chicago Teachers Union has
sued the nation's third largest school district, saying Mayor
Rahm Emanuel's campaign to reform or close underperforming
public schools discriminates against African-American teachers
and staff.
The federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday and announced on
Thursday is the latest battle with the city since teachers
staged a week-long strike in September. It alleges that more
than half of the tenured teachers fired in the most recent round
of school closings and turnarounds were African American.
But blacks make up less than 30 percent of the tenured
teaching staff in the district and 35 percent of the tenured
teacher population in the failing schools, the lawsuit claims.
The suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois seeks an immediate moratorium on any additional school
closings in the city.
The school district declined to comment on the lawsuit while
it is pending, but said, "We have an obligation to expand
high quality school options to all families and children
in every neighborhood and turnarounds is just one tool that
allows us to provide those options."
Emanuel, a former top White House adviser to President
Barack Obama, and the school district are expected to close more
schools in the coming years because of declining enrollment and
a huge budget deficit.
The school district has until the end of March 2013 to say
which schools it wants to close, and it has appointed a
commission to study the matter.
The district's enrollment has fallen nearly 20 percent in
the last decade, mainly because of population declines in poor
neighborhoods. The district said it can accommodate 500,000
students, but only about 400,000 are enrolled. About 140 schools
are half empty, according to the district.
The union argues that while the school district is closing
existing neighborhood schools, primarily in minority
neighborhoods, it is simultaneously approving new, mostly
nonunion charter schools.
This fall, public teachers in Chicago staged the first
strike against the district in 25 years to protest reforms
supported by Emanuel, including teacher evaluations. The
teachers were given a pay raise as part of the strike
settlement.
The case, filed on behalf of three fired teachers, is
Chicago Teachers Union, Terri Fells, Lillian Edmonds and
Josephine Hamilton Perry v. Board of Education of the City of
Chicago 12-cv-10338.
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