Families ask for immediate freeze on CPS plan to close National Teachers Academy

By Lauren FitzPatrick

Parents and supporters of National Teachers Academy Elementary School protest outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Ravenswood neighborhood home to decry a proposal to turn the South Loop school into a high school, Monday afternoon, Oct. 9, 2017. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

National Teachers Academy parents and activists trying to halt the planned closure of the elementary school about to become home to a new high school have asked a Cook County judge to speed up his decision.

Plaintiffs in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed in June against the Chicago Board of Education asked Tuesday for a preliminary injunction that would force Chicago Public Schools to immediately freeze its plans to close the top-rated NTA, home to mostly African-American and low income students, and convert it into a high school in 2019 serving the booming Near South Side.

“We hope that the court can recognize this reality and will grant an injunction in order to stop our beloved school from hemorrhaging further resources and staff,” NTA parent Elisabeth Greer said in a press release.

CPS did not return messages seeking comment.

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