Chicago schools property taxes up 62% in 15 years

By Patrick Andriesen

05/06/2025

The median Chicago residence paid $2,059 in property taxes just to support Chicago Public Schools in 2024, 62% more than they paid 15 years ago. More than half of a Chicago homeowners’ property tax bill now goes to CPS.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, property taxes

Chicago Public Schools hits taxpayers twice with pension pickups

By LyLena Estabine

04/29/2025

Chicago Public Schools teachers hired before 2017 only pay 2% of the required employee contribution for their pensions. The other 7% is picked up by the district, costing $135 million in 2025.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Chicago mayor praises school with just 2% adept readers as example of his values

By Hannah Schmid

04/03/2025

Mayor Brandon Johnson celebrated Dyett High School where only 2% of tested students can read at grade level – and none can do math at grade level – as a “great example” of a schooling model the Chicago Teachers Union’s tentative contract plans to boost.

TAGS: Brandon Johnson, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Spend $93K per student and what happens? None can read at grade level.

By Hannah Schmid

02/13/2025

Not a single 11th-grade student was proficient in reading or math in 2023-2024 at Douglass Academy High School. The near-empty school has the highest per-student spending in Chicago Public Schools.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Vallas: What new school board members should know about Chicago Public Schools

By Paul Vallas

01/16/2025

Chicago’s first elected school board was just sworn into office. Here’s what members should know about what the Chicago Teachers Union has done to damage Chicago Public Schools and the city’s children, plus eight steps to undo the damage.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago Teachers Union took over Acero charter schools to stifle parents’ rights

By Mailee Smith

12/23/2024

The Chicago Teachers Union played a long game with Acero charter schools: unionizing them, undermining them and then taking them over. Now students and parents are left without the charter schools they chose.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

19 of 20 schools touted by Chicago Teachers Union see reading lag in 2024

By Hannah Schmid

11/26/2024

The Chicago Teachers Union is pushing to expand the 20 “sustainable community schools” in the district. But the model doesn’t work: fewer students are proficient, absenteeism is higher.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Election’s over. What’s next for the Chicago School Board?

By Mailee Smith

11/06/2024

Voters have chosen the first 10 members of their elected Chicago Public Schools board. Amid a chaotic fall, here are answers to some common questions about what’s next for public education in Chicago.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

CTU-backed candidates losing majority of Chicago School Board races

By Dylan Sharkey

11/05/2024

Chicago Teachers Union allies were losing most Chicago School Board elections. CTU spent more than $1 million on its candidates, but voters made it clear they are tired of paying more to get less from city schools.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago Public Schools’ financial crisis can again be fixed by state oversight

By Joe Tabor

11/05/2024

By 1980, financial mismanagement led Chicago Public Schools to lose its ability to borrow money, to miss multiple payrolls and vendor payments, and to drop deep into debt. The state stepped in with a financial oversight authority. It’s time to do that again.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools