Illinois’ public schools are in trouble. As if shuttering schools, the faltering Chicago Public Schools system and unfunded pension liabilities weren’t enough, it seems the teacher licensing system is mired in clout and corruption. A front page story from the Chicago Tribune on July 12 details findings of “nearly 100 cases in the past five...

Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, officials announced yesterday that the district laid off a group of teachers and other staff. Overall, 1,150 school district employees, composed of 550 teachers and 600 clerical support staff, are being let go by the school district. This round of layoffs comes a year after CPS let go a further...

Chicago Public Schools’ plan to alleviate overcrowding in schools on the city’s west and north sides is a costly, jumbled mess. Its initial decision to provide $20 million to Lincoln Elementary to alleviate overcrowding at the school, even though it’s the 17th most overcrowded school in the city, was met with fierce resistance. Teachers and...

Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, displayed plenty of bad judgment last year: in the way it managed its budget, the school closings fiasco and the adoption of a new promotion policy that pushes students to the next grade even when they’re not ready. More recently, CPS continued its poor decision-making by providing $20 million to...

State government officials, district administrators and union bosses have been actively misleading parents about the quality of Illinois’ elementary schools for years. New Illinois Standard Achievement Test, or ISAT, scores released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education, or ISBE, prove as much. In fact, most schools across the state experienced significant drops...