Teachers union files lawsuits to block Chicago school closings

CHICAGO, May 16 (UPI) -- Chicago's plan to close 53 elementary schools disproportionately affects poor black students, the Chicago Teachers Union says.

The union filed two lawsuits Wednesday in an effort to block the closings, the Chicago Tribune reported. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the plan next week.

A similar legal effort last year was dismissed but is being appealed. One of the new suits seeks a delay of at least a year in any school closings, arguing that the board has not allowed time for a meaningful review, while the other asks for a permanent injunction, arguing the closings will affect children in special needs programs.

"For the 72 schools that defendants have closed to date, African-American children make up more than 90 percent of the displaced children; and in currently proposed closings, they make up more than 80 percent of the displaced children," the second complaint says. "Yet African-American children constitute only 42 percent of the children in public schools."

The board has said the schools targeted for closing do not have enough students to justify keeping them open.