Illinois is in the minority of states graduating a higher percentage of students during the first two years of the pandemic. But state data shows those high school students’ SAT scores are dropping and a smaller percentage are immediately continuing onto higher education.
This edition of The Policy Shop is brought to you by director of fiscal and economic research Bryce Hill. They say numbers don’t lie. If so, Illinois communities are now faced with an undeniable truth: 85% of them experienced population decline in 2022, with Chicago, the heart of our state, suffering a loss of nearly...
The Illinois General Assembly approved $100 million in grants so students can choose a private or public university. But when it comes to giving that private or public choice to low-income students, there soon may be no choice at all.
Illinois state lawmakers shorted pensions by $4.1 billion and killed scholarships for low-income students, but gave themselves pay raises and a new office building. Their budget leaves no room for error as revenue projections drop.
U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled for a widow from Minnesota whose home was seized and sold for a tax debt, but local government kept $25,000 more than she owed. The ruling should stop the practice in Illinois, where it is especially prevalent.
The Illinois General Assembly is poised to pass a budget without extending the Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program, which allows 9,000 low-income students to attend a school of their choice. The program expires Dec. 31.
Illinoisans face the second gas tax hike of 2023 on July 1. The 3.1 cent hike doesn’t need lawmaker approval, thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker implementing automatic gas tax hikes.
Memorial Day weekend means millions will hit the road, but Illinoisans should try and fill up across states lines to avoid some of the nation’s highest gas taxes.
This week’s The Policy Shop is by Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute. With just a week left of session and a hard deadline of July 1 (the beginning of the new fiscal year) to pass a state budget, Springfield politicians are running out of time. As of...
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s cabinet includes staff from the Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union.
Chicago revealed proposed district maps for the 2024 school board election that have drawn plenty of criticism. Here’s what you need to know about how, when and from where those 21 members will be picked.
Larry Roberts is a Chicago barber who helps former inmates reclaim their lives and dignity through jobs training. We first spoke to him in 2021. His school ran a barber shop inside the Chatham neighborhood Walmart until this spring, when Walmart abruptly closed that location and three others. Larry is looking for a new location...
No matter what rhetoric about passing a balanced budget comes out of Springfield, the state budget will automatically be unbalanced because of inadequate pension contributions.