"In less time than it takes to boil an egg" Chicago closes 50 schools.

[mopinko]

61. the city of chicago has gone through huge demographic shifts

over the last 40 years, including 20 years of tearing down hi-rise federal housing and displacing those residents both around the city and out to the suburbs, plus 30+ years of white flight to the suburbs on the kids 5th birthday.
a few new schools have been built in neighborhoods where families moved into new development as old industries left. almost no schools were closed. but many emptied out until they were at half their capacity.

all these things, and a whole lot more, including the cowardice of his predecessor, led up to this day. it is a million times more complicated than anyone here seems to grok.

so, your ??s-
most of those poor are already gone. they have schools were they went.
the second seems self-evident, but chicago has the same population trends as most places. families are getting smaller.

as for the last, reread para #1, and realize that lots of books have been written about those shifts and those attitudes, and why they happened. it is all anything but the simple discussions that i see here all day every day.