In the time it has taken for a child to grow up in Chicago, city leaders have either closed or re-staffed some 200 public schools — nearly a third of the entire district. 

A new WBEZ investigation looks at the 70,000 children — nearly 90 percent of them black — affected by the tactic of closing and opening schools as a way to improve education. On this episode of On Background, we get the backstory of how a generation of school closings has changed Chicago politics. 

Reporting for this episode comes from Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, Sarah Karp, Linda Lutton, Kate McGee, and Becky Vevea. Editing by Kate Grossman and Al Keefe. Production by Becky Vevea and Justin Bull. 

Each week at On Background, WBEZ’s team of political reporters brings you the backstory on the week’s big story. Host Becky Vevea and guests take you inside the back rooms of Chicago and Illinois government to better understand the people, places and forces shaping today’s politics.