CHICAGO – Another lawsuit has been filed in an attempt to stop Chicago’s planned school closings.

The Chicago Teachers Union and district parents filed a new lawsuit this week to stop the Chicago Board of Education from shuttering some of the 50 underutilized, underperforming schools it plans to close next school year, the Associated Press reports.

“They claim Illinois law bars the Chicago Board of Education from closing 10 elementary schools it voted to shut last week because independent hearing officers had determined those closures failed to comply with the board’s own guidelines,” according to the news service.

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Specifically, the union and parents allege that reports issued earlier this month by the hearing officers found Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett either didn’t have adequate safety plans in place, couldn’t ensure students would transfer to better schools, or ignored possible overcrowding at the new schools, when she decided which ones to close, according to the AP.

The Chicago school board last week voted to close 50 of the district’s schools because of dwindling enrollment. Critics – mostly the teachers union – have come up with a litany of reasons why the schools should remain open, though most make little sense.

Students would have to cross gang lines, they contend, though the district has implemented a safety plan to protect students. The union also argues the closures will disproportionately impact minority students, and therefore are racist in nature. The fact is that most Chicago schools have a majority of students from various minority populations. It would be impossible to close just about any school without affecting minority students.

The CTU and its allies have held rallies and called the mayor and his appointed school officials all sorts of mean names in recent weeks.

But the CTU is doing everything in its power to stop the closings because the schools represent more than just a place to learn, or their members’ place of employment. The 50 schools slated for closure represent power and control for the CTU and others who want to maintain the failed status quo.

Each school employs a lot of CTU dues-paying members, and their layoffs would erode the union’s membership list, clout and revenue.

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The new lawsuit alleges “once the schools are closed it is impossible to put back the status quo” and parents, students and teachers “will suffer irreparable harm,” the AP reports.

Perhaps the teachers and their union would be harmed. The students would probably be better served in their new schools and their parents would come to realize that in time.

But that can only happen if the union challenge to the school closure plan fails in court.

Stay tuned.