CHICAGO — The new school year is off to a messy start in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district.
Michael Flynn, who has taught sixth grade at Otis Elementary in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood since 1977, said he’s never seen his school dirtier. A whole floor went untouched overnight recently, leaving surfaces unswept and heaps of garbage in classrooms.
“It’s a germ factory,” Flynn told HuffPost. “And it’s as bad now as it’s ever been in terms of kids not getting what they need.”
The Chicago Public School system has faced notorious budget cuts in recent years, and closed 49 schools in 2013. Recent money-saving moves to privatize management of custodial and cafeteria services have drawn the ire of parents and faculty, who have alleged schools are dirtier — and school lunches are worse — than ever.
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