The state of education in Illinois is nothing short of a crisis — only 29% of our third-grade students are meeting reading proficiency standards, according to state data.

Students who struggle to read by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Nearly 90% of third-grade students with disabilities and more than 80% of Black and Hispanic students are not meeting standards. This dismal performance should shock every parent and citizen in our state.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is not changing his vision for public safety after a violent weekend in the city.

More than 100 people were shot in Chicago from Thursday, July 4, through Sunday, July 7. Nineteen of those people died. Johnson said the violence did not happen in a vacuum.

Chicago Public Schools officials this week plan to release the budget for the upcoming academic year, after delaying it a month as they worked to close a more than $400 million deficit and tried to convince the former teacher who now occupies City Hall to help.

Much of the discussion has been over a pension payment that the city had paid for decades, but that former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in a controversial and sharply criticized move, shifted to the school district in 2019, WBEZ has learned from multiple sources.

A push to expand the power of the Chicago City Council to operate independently from the mayor and city attorneys failed to win the backing of a key city panel Monday, preventing the yearslong effort from advancing.

The City Council’s Rules Committee voted 18-24 to reject a measure crafted by Alds. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) and Anthony Beale (9th Ward) that would have created the City Council Office of Legislative Counsel and changed the City Council’s rules of order to allow any alderperson to request time to consult with the new office in the event of a disagreement over how the mayor and his hand-picked attorneys are implementing those rules and running City Council meetings.

DuPage County forest preserve commissioners are weighing whether to ask voters in November for a possible property tax increase to generate more than $17 million in additional annual revenue for the district.

The board is set to discuss a draft ballot question during a planning session Tuesday night. Under the proposal, the district would seek a tax increase that would cost the owner of a home valued at $308,500 roughly $36 annually.

Throughout the school day, Monique Davis sees students constantly glued to their phones. And she said it’s a big problem.

“[It’s] all the way from serious stuff like fights and violence, and then all the way down to just basic being able to be in the classroom and be there for what you’re there to be for, which is to be educated and to be be in school and be learning,” Davis, who teaches public speaking at Lanphier and Springfield High Schools, said.

With a meeting Tuesday night, there are a couple items on the agenda.

These include the historic buildings of Madison Theatre and the Peoria Women’s Club, both in downtown Peoria.

Illinoisans could soon have the ability to ask for a digital driver’s license or state ID. A proposal on Gov. JB Pritzker‘s desk would allow the Secretary of State’s office to launch the process of finding vendors for digital ID production.

People spend a significant amount of time on their cell phones thanks to countless apps for everyday life. But have you ever thought of using an app to show your driver’s license?