Documentary asks what happened to students affected by Chicago school closings

What really happened to the 10,000 students affected by Chicago’s 2013 school closings?

The School Project is teaming up with the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research to revisit the aftermath of the school closings and discuss in a night of film, discussion and new research findings.

That includes a screening of “Chicago Public Schools: Closed,” the second installment of a six-part documentary Web series created by a collaboration of Chicago filmmakers, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22., at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. The film follows Rousemary Vega, a parent-turned-activist, through the maze of hearings and protests that led to the largest school closings in American history.

The event also will include a panel discussion with Jesse Ruiz of the Chicago Board of Education; Jitu Brown of the Journey for Justice Alliance; Asif Wilson, executive director of Greenhouse Fellowship and a former Chicago Public School teacher; and Elaine Allensworth of the Consortium on Chicago School Research.

It comes as the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research plans to release a new report that day exploring where students affected by the closings in 2013 ended up.

The Chicago Sun-Times is a media partner of The School Project.

Watch the trailer for “Chicago Public Schools: Closed,” below:

And join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #TheSchoolProject.