“When you take away access to simple necessities such as education and jobs, you end up with a city that lives and breathes violence.”

The above quote is from Yesha Callahn, of Clutch Magazine. Her piece focuses on the state of Public Education in Chicago. The town of Chicago has come to be known for violence as its streets have been plagued by homicide. And now, at a time during which so many of the community’s members are fighting to simply survive they face another loss.

61 schools in the city are set to close. According to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, this is necessary due to many schools being “half empty.”

Where most schools in major cities suffer from overcrowding and a high student to teacher ratio, it seems that Chicago refuses to make the best out of a lack of crowding, in a way that could benefit their students.

With this change comes concern that such restrictions will put our children in harms way given the issue of gang violence.

The constant closures of schools are disheartening and perhaps lead one to believe how little we value our future. After all, investing in our children and their education is an investment in our future. How do we show them they are of value when we take away what might have been the one constant for so many of our children? How do we help change the atmosphere of a city that experiences such loss on all levels? For more on this story visit Clutch Magazine.

BMWK — Do you believe lack of jobs and the state of public education has something to do with the current state of Chicago?