More than a dozen candidates filled out an Illinois Policy questionnaire to give voters a better idea of who is running for office. Read their answers below.
The current Chicago ordinance on separate residences on the same lot puts extra limits on the Southeast, South and West sides that hinder development. Those are areas with some of the greatest need.
Illinois is doing away with the statewide grocery tax. Look below to see how much taxpayers in your town or county will save when the tax goes away in 2026 – unless local leaders decide to keep it.
Illinois drivers are expected to pay nearly $2 billion in state gas taxes by the end of the year, more than twice what they paid before Gov. J.B. Pritzker took office and doubled the tax. Pritzker’s tax hike took $4 billion extra from drivers between 2019 and 2023.
The Chicago Board of Education’s five-year plan includes redefining student success and ending school ranking based on performance. It also includes expanding sustainable community schools, which record among the lowest student outcomes.
Preliminary enrollment data for the 2024-2025 school year show a less than 1% uptick in enrollment. The biggest increase is in English Learners.
Mississippi state lawmakers enacted science-based literacy legislation in 2013, laying the groundwork for improved reading proficiency among early grades, and additional legislation in 2016 to solidify improvement in literacy trends.
Illinois is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Over a third of residents are considered “burdened” by housing costs, meaning they pay over 30% of their income on costs related to housing. That is a greater portion of residents burdened by housing than any other state in the Midwest. The state fell 113,000...
With 40 days until the election, Illinois residents can vote early at their local county clerks’ office. Vote-by-mail ballots should arrive soon, but there is still time to apply for one.
The Chicago Teachers Union is backing various candidates for Chicago Board of Education. CTU has donated more than $175,000 to their endorsed candidates.
This episode of The Policy Shop is by writer Patrick Andriesen Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign pledge to end the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system has come to fruition. The city’s contract expired on Sept. 22. Analysis of city data shows the aldermanic wards reporting the most gunshots were the ones who fought hardest to keep...
Years of exorbitant political spending in Illinois – more than $24.3 million since 2010 – has secured an enormous amount of political influence for the Chicago Teachers Union. It is now the main political player not just in Chicago, but across the state.