密歇根新闻广播 关闭一所学校对学生和周围街区有何影响?

What happens to students and neighborhoods when a school closes?

That question was thrust into the spotlight¹ with word late last week that Michigan's School Reform Office has put 38 low-performing schools on notice they could be shut down. Twenty-five of those schools are in Detroit.

Tomorrow, Michigan Radio's State of Opportunity team will look at school closures in a new documentary² called We Live Here.

In light of the 38 low-performing schools that may close in Michigan, the documentary's creators, Jennifer Guerra and April Van Buren, joined Stateside to discuss what those closures could mean for affected³ students and communities.

Van Buren said Detroit is "exhibit A for the entire country" in terms of what happens when a school closes.

The city has closed more public schools than any other – almost 200 schools since 2000.

When a school is shut down in Detroit, Guerra said in her experience, all you have to do is drive around a neighborhood to witness the aftereffects. 

"In the neighborhoods I visited where there had been a school and the school was closed, the vast majority of the houses around that school would be vacant," she said. "We do know property values go down, crime often goes up and families move, because, especially in Detroit, there's not a lot of public transportation, so they move to where the next school is."

It's kind of like the chicken or the egg problem. Which came first? The school falling down or the neighborhood falling down.

"I think that's sort of the point of the documentary," Guerra said. "They're just intimately intertwined, the fates of the two things, neighborhoods and schools."

To learn how school closings affect the students, listen above. You'll also hear a preview of We Live Here, the State of Opportunity documentary coming tomorrow on Stateside.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。