(CHICAGO) -- The Chicago Public School (CPS) system is looking at closing about 50 underperforming schools in what would be the largest shutdown by a city in a single year in recent history.

The move has reportedly been in the works for months as Mayor Rahm Emanuel tries to shed a looming one billion dollar deficit.  

According to the Chicago Tribune, principals of schools on the list of closures were notified about the shutdown at 6 a.m. Thursday.  CPS is expected to release that list Thursday afternoon.

Students currently attending schools on the closing list will be moved into higher performing schools.  

Critics, including the teachers' union, claim the closures could hit African-American neighborhoods the hardest.  
 
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