Chicago voters indicate desire for state to fund city

11/07/2012

Will state taxpayers be asked to pick up the employer share of Chicago teacher pensions?

Education spending skyrockets while test scores still disappoint

By Paul Kersey

10/31/2012

Despite a struggling economy and a backlog of unpaid bills, per-pupil education spending in Illinois rose to an all-time high this year. Instructional expenditures per pupil – costs associated with teaching – reached $6,284, a 46-percent increase since 2002. Operating expenditures per pupil – costs associated with operating a school district – rose to $11,664,...

O’Hare renovations: 30 times more expensive than Illinois’ high-speed rail plans

By Brian Costin

10/29/2012

With a track length of nearly 3.1 miles, taxpayers are looking at footing a cost of almost $110 million per mile.

Preckwinkle’s proposed $1 per-pack cigarette tax hike doesn’t add up

By Benjamin VanMetre

10/25/2012

Since 2002, cigarette taxes increased 105 times across the country. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle wants to make it 106. To help fill Cook County’s $267.5 million budget shortfall, Preckwinkle has proposed increasing the per-pack tax on cigarettes by $1. The tax hike is only expected to bring in about $25 million in new revenue. Preckwinkle’s new money...

Cook County’s attempt to sin tax its way out of $267.5 million budget shortfall

By Benjamin VanMetre

10/24/2012

Cook County faces a projected $267.5 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2013. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has a solution: Fill the gap with higher taxes on cigarettes, guns, ammo, gambling and businesses. “We have structural problems that demand structural solutions” Preckwinkle said. The problems are structural, but Preckwinkle’s solutions are not. Tinkering with the tax...

Red light camera revenues seduce public officials

10/24/2012

Since the city of Chicago began Illinois

The Unctuous, Impoverishing Bigotry Of Class Warfare

By John Tillman

10/17/2012

Class warfare is a form of bigotry; it shouldn

Dispelling the class size myth

10/16/2012

As teachers’ strikes continue to spread across Illinois, union officials are pushing back against criticisms that they are not doing enough to raise student achievement. One of the most common excuses they use to explain the lack of results – apart from claiming that low-income populations have too many issues to overcome, something the Institute showed is...

Four common myths about charter schools

10/12/2012

The Chicago Teacher

CPS asks charter networks to save failing schools

10/11/2012

According to a report in today’s Chicago Tribune, CPS officials have asked several charter operators if they would be willing to take over some of the 80 to 120 under-enrolled or poorly performing schools that the district is planning on closing next year. Among the names mentioned are the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) and the Noble Network of Charter Schools....

Chicago

Chicago voters indicate desire for state to fund city

Education spending skyrockets while test scores still disappoint

O’Hare renovations: 30 times more expensive than Illinois’ high-speed rail plans

Preckwinkle’s proposed $1 per-pack cigarette tax hike doesn’t add up

Cook County’s attempt to sin tax its way out of $267.5 million budget shortfall

Red light camera revenues seduce public officials

The Unctuous, Impoverishing Bigotry Of Class Warfare

Dispelling the class size myth

Four common myths about charter schools

CPS asks charter networks to save failing schools

FAQ: How the federal scholarship program would help Illinois students

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

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