Aiming to hold strong on a promise to be as equally tough on privately run charter schools as she is on neighborhood schools, the Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced Thursday that the district will recommend to the Board of Education that two charter high schools be closed this year due to poor performance.

As the district attempts to address a $1 billion budget deficit, many critics have argued that some privately-run, publicly-funded charter schools don't perform any better than neighborhood schools, yet neighborhood schools are the ones being targeted for closure. 

Aspira Charter School's Mirta Ramirez Campus on the Northwest Side and the Betty Shabazz Charter School's DuSable Campus on the South Side will be recommended for a gradual closing, allowing current students to graduate. Both schools have a staggeringly low percentage of students who meet or exceed state standards on the Prairie State Achievement Examination; slightly more than 16 percent at Mirta Ramirez and less than 6 percent at the Shabazz DuSable campus.