Senator Annazette Collins is the latest member of General Assembly to speak out on proposed Chicago Public School closures. 

Crane High School, located in Sen. Collins' district, was slated for closure by CPS in November.   

“We know that our schools are in trouble,” said Sen. Collins. “But I’m fighting to save Crane. The community doesn’t want this. It’s a traditional high school, for one, in a historic building. We should keep Crane a neighborhood school. If we change the curriculum and put resources into the programs we already have, we can attract more kids to Crane and keep that great history alive.” 

Collins said if Crane closes, students in the community would only be sent to other failing schools.

“These kids won’t be sent to Whitney Young High School, they’ll go to Marshall, Manley, Wells or Farragut. There are more benefits to keeping Crane open. One of the nice things about Crane is its location: it’s in the middle of Chicago. You can get there from anywhere in the city because of our transportation system. It also sits in the middle of a medical district. Let’s keep Crane in the neighborhood, and play up our strengths. We should have children learning allied health, nursing, medical billing, all things that we’re going to need. Rush Hospital just built a brand new facility; why not take advantage of the infrastructure within our community?”

Another loss if Crane closes is the history of a high school that is very important to the West side of Chicago.

“CPS thinks they’re doing a great thing by letting the current freshman graduate; but those kids have brothers and sisters who can’t go there. You can’t keep coming into a community and push people out.”

Crane also has one of the most storied basketball programs in Chicago.  It is second in the city for most league titles with 11 (Its rival Marshall has 12.)   

“Parents have been coming to see me about this issue, and I want them to know how proud I am for the parents to want something so badly and fight for it, because that’s how you’re going to get it. When you stand up that’s when your politicians stand up. So I’m going to be there fighting for you along with aldermen and committeemen. We believe in our children. Our children can succeed. We know it can be done, and we know we have bright, articulate children.”

Additional reading:

• Media Watch: Senator Martinez sets the record straight on the real concerns with CPS closure plans
• State Legislators to examine CPS closures and ‘turnarounds’when session begins  
• “Enough is Enough,” says Delgado