Chicago Public Schools has closed its last electrical training program because of lack of student interest. Only 40 of the incoming ninth graders had chosen to study electricity, but only 18 of them would have actually enrolled in the program because of other subject choices, according to a report in the Chicago Sun Times.
One high school has rallied to save the program, however, with the support of a south side alderman. The alderman asked the district to at least consider phasing the program out gradually for the sake of the 56 students currently enrolled. He has also approached the electrical union and local construction companies to help drum up interest in electricity among students, the paper reported.