Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. is largely blaming state leadership for the planned closure of three of the city’s elementary schools. “You know, a lot of people move to Hammond from Illinois, and they’re perplexed. ‘What’s going on here? I like the low taxes, but I want teachers and I want schools.’ You came to the wrong state. This state doesn’t value public education, and that’s a fact,” McDermott said Wednesday during a Facebook Live event responding to the closures.