Do not close neighborhood schools

From the way executives with the Cedar Rapids schools are acting, you'd think the city's population has plummeted over the past few years. I don't think that's true. So why has it become so important to close several neighborhood elementary schools?

Just Google 'effect of closing neighborhood schools' and you'll find a wide variety of academic studies, scientific data, news stories, anecdotes, and horror stories about what this does to neighborhoods. The examples are detailed and disturbing.

Think about who stands to benefit from closing selected elementary schools. Whose housing values will remain high because they receive more tax dollars? Meanwhile, whose kids will have longer days because they have to take a bus ride when they didn't before? Whose neighborhoods will look far less attractive to young couples with kids?

Speak up. Don't let them ram these closures through.

Craig Hlas

Cedar Rapids