Chicago Tribune

The fight for school choice lives on

06/22/2013
In May of 2010, the Illinois House of Representatives voted down the 2010 voucher bill. My hopes had been high for this bill, because I knew what school choice would mean for Illinois families. Vouchers mean freedom from failing schools; the possibility of students and families choosing their own path instead of being stuck with...

Chicago Public Schools looking for cash can start by ending teacher pickups

By Benjamin VanMetre
06/19/2013
Chicago Public Schools pension payment will increase by roughly $400 million due to the expiration of a temporary “pension holiday.” Local lawmakers knew this was coming but did nothing to prepare for the increased payment. The good news is there is a simple, responsible way to cut more than 30 percent of the increased pension...

Illinois General Assembly reverses Quinn’s education budget cuts

By Benjamin VanMetre
06/01/2013
Just a few months ago, the big education news in Illinois was Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed $400 million cut to the General State Aid for Education budget – the state’s single-largest education expenditure. This article in the Chicago Tribune captured the frantic pleas of school boards, administrators and teachers at the time: Roger Eddy, a former state...

ObamaCare comes to Chicago

05/17/2013
by Diane Cohen According to reports by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will finally do what he and other politicians should have done a long time ago: end costly health insurance benefits paid to city retirees. Starting next year, the mayor will begin a three-year phase out of the coverage, at which time affected...

Democracy restored: Liberty Justice Center lawsuit vindicates constitutional rights of City of Macomb citizens

03/31/2013
MEDIA ALERT from the LIBERTY JUSTICE CENTER Media contact: Diana Rickert 312-607-4977 Case documents available online at: libertyjusticecenter.org   Democracy restored: Liberty Justice Center lawsuit vindicates constitutional rights of City of Macomb citizens Court rules that definition of majority is “unambiguous” and orders city to declare WIU student Steven Wailand winner of Macomb 2nd Ward...

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Charter school waiting lists: the other side of the story

03/31/2013
WBEZ in Chicago has published one of the more incomplete stories on charter schools I’ve read in a long time. It asserts: Charter advocates and even the Chicago Tribune editorial board say 19,000 kids are on charter school waiting lists in the city.

Voting board members given 30 minutes to analyze Hinsdale teachers’ contract

By Brian Costin
03/14/2013
In January, I wrote about my ordeal in obtaining my local school district’s collective bargaining agreement. The public, including taxpayers like me, wasn’t allowed to examine the new teachers’ contract until 38 days after the contract was approved by the board. Once I finally got ahold of the contract I found out the teacher salary raises were...
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Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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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