Barack Obama

Education Reform in Action at CICS-Basil

By Chris Andriesen
11/16/2010
by Ashley Muchow Thanks to the hospitality of Meghan Schmidt, Director of Special Projects at Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS), and Chenita Hardy, Director of CICS-Basil, Amanda Griffin-Johnson, Daniel Anthony, and myself were able to take an eye-opening tour of one of Chicago’s groundbreaking charter schools—CICS-Basil. CICS-Basil is a K-8 charter school located in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood. The...

Obamacare Waivers

By Chris Andriesen
11/15/2010
by Kate Piercy Bureaucracy deciding who gets exemptions from a law and who does not: Here is the list of the lucky 111 groups (including unions and health care providers) exempt from the burden of the Obama administration’s onerous health care plan, buried six clicks deep on the Health and Human Services website and posted last Friday. Nice...

Most Voters Want Health Care Impact Investigated

By Chris Andriesen
11/11/2010
by Kate Piercy A recent Rasmussen Reports national survey found ambivalence among voters about House Republican plans to investigate the Obama administration – unless the subject of the probe is the unpopular national health care bill. Scott Rasmussen remarked about the findings, saying, “Voters want Congress to focus on substance, not distractions. Congressional questioning about policy...

More and More Federal Employees Earning $150k a Year

By Chris Andriesen
11/10/2010
by Wesley Fox The Institute has previously put the spotlight on excessive salaries for Illinois state employees, but now it appears federal employees are also being paid quite generously. According to USAToday the number of federal employees earning $150,000 or more has grown tenfold since 2005.  In 2010, approximately 82,034 federal workers earned $150,000 or more, compared to only 7,420...

Gridlock is good for spending restraint

By Chris Andriesen
11/05/2010
by Ashley Muchow Mercatus Center Research Fellow, Matthew Mitchell, has charted the impact united U.S. governments have had on spending under political combinations dating back to 1953. Over the past two years, a united U.S. government has reached average annual spending levels beyond any that of any administration in the history of the United States. Since the Obama administration...

What It Means – Elections

By John Tillman
11/03/2010
All across the country, from federal races to local races, the national mood and resulting election wave dominated and largely prevailed.  In Illinois, that same wave only flowed for the federal races, not the General Assembly or governor’s race. Mark Kirk won President Obama’s Senate seat, and there were four GOP pickups in the House...

My Nominee for Pay Czar: David Stern

By Chris Andriesen
11/02/2010
by Dan Proft I do not think government functionaries should set private sector salaries or that U.S. policymakers should be adorned with the appellation properly reserved for Russian autocrats. But, if I did not believe in free markets and free minds, NBA Commissioner David Stern would be my choice for “Pay Czar.” Stern is in the...

Charter Schools in the UK?

11/01/2010
by Collin Hitt The UK is considering a new policy modeled after charter schools in America.  Called “free schools,” the proposal has been endorsed by Arne Duncan in advance of his visit to the country this week.  A story in today’s London Telegraph framed the issue well, and quoted yours truly: For Mr Gove, the...

High Cost for Mandated College Polling Stations

10/29/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Earlier this year, SB 3012 was signed into law and created a pilot project mandating that election authorities provide early voting sites on public university campuses in their jurisdiction. The project is only for the 2010 general election, but some county clerks have voiced their opposition to the mandate citing the high costs for small...

Great Depression…I Mean, Recession.

10/20/2010
by Ashley Muchow Depression. Great Recession. Trough. We’ve heard it all in reference to the struggling state of the U.S. economy. President Barack Obama has insisted his policy moves and $787 billion-plus spending initiatives staved off a second Great Depression. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared late last month that the recession ended in June of 2009, after less...
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FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016