Chicago is holding more than 190 community meetings and public hearings this spring—all required by law—to gather feedback on its proposal to close an unprecedented 54 schools. The district also has proposed six school turnarounds (complete re-staffings that also turn the school over to the private nonprofit manager Academy for Urban School Leadership), and 11 “co-locations” where 23 schools would share space in 11 buildings. See a list of all proposals here.

Chicago Public Schools contracted with a vendor to record public meetings that took place between April 6 and April 15 in affected communities. Through an open records request, WBEZ obtained those audio files and has posted them to this site. Additionally, WBEZ is recording public hearings held at CPS headquarters (April 16-May 2) on the proposed closings, turnarounds and co-locations and posting that audio here as well.

We encourage our listeners to help flag the most interesting moments in these hearings by “commenting” directly on the audio. (It’s cool and helpful for other listeners!)

Here’s how to comment: Click on a particular hearing. When you hear something you’d like to flag, pause the audio. A comment bar will appear just below the sound waves.  You don’t need to have an account or be signed in to comment.