Vallas: Chicago Teachers Union war on public school choice hurts poor, minority students

By Paul Vallas

12/15/2023

Let’s be clear on who will be impacted by this unrelenting attack on school choice: poor Black and Latino students.

Vallas: How to empower Chicago communities to save failing schools

By Paul Vallas

12/13/2023

Innovation can help Chicago Public Schools improve academic proficiency, but it requires breaking up the centralized power built by the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools. Local control can improve student outcomes.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Teachers Union, affiliates biggest spenders on Chicago politics

By Mailee Smith

12/12/2023

The Chicago Teachers Union and its state and national affiliates spent nearly $6.5 million on Chicago political candidates between Feb. 28, 2022, and May 4, 2023.

TAGS: CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Chicago Teachers Union president misses deadline to pay back taxes, penalty

By Jess Plowman

12/11/2023

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates missed the deadline to pay $1,533 in back taxes and penalties on her Indiana house. She was fined for taking a homeowner’s property tax break on a South Bend house she didn’t live in.

TAGS: CTU: Chicago Teachers Union

Vallas: ‘Illinois is back,’ but only in Pritzker’s active imagination

By Paul Vallas

12/08/2023

Gov. J.B. Pritzker told Crain’s Chicago Business, “Illinois is back.” But with a long list of state and local fiscal and economic problems, that is more spin than reality.

TAGS: JB Pritzker

Illinois pension debt grows $2.6 billion in 2023, mainly to cover raises

By Patrick Andriesen

12/08/2023

Unfunded liabilities for Illinois’ five statewide pension systems grew by $2.5 billion in a year, hitting its second-highest level since 2009. Researchers attributed most of the growth to “larger than expected salary increases.”

Chicago Teachers Union president owes city $5,579 for utilities

By Mailee Smith

12/07/2023

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates has let $5,579 in Chicago water, sewer and trash bills pile up. She makes over $289,000 and demands the “wealthy” pay a greater share. So why doesn’t she pay her fair share to a city in financial turmoil?

TAGS: CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, Stacy Davis Gates

Poverty 4X higher for Chicago high school dropouts than college grads

By Hannah Schmid

12/06/2023

Poverty rates in Chicago drop with each level of educational attainment. Chicagoans without a high school diploma face poverty rates more than four times higher than those with bachelor’s degrees.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Chicago car thefts at 11-year high in 2023 before year’s over

By Patrick Andriesen

12/05/2023

Chicago set an 11-year record for car thefts with months still to go in 2023. Nearly 25,000 drivers through October failed to find their vehicles where they’d left them.

TAGS: Chicago

5 jobs Illinois imposes heaviest licensing burdens on

By Joe Tabor

12/04/2023

Employment is the clearest path out of poverty, but these five low-income professions face more occupational licensing burdens than others in Illinois.

Chicago

Vallas: Chicago Teachers Union war on public school choice hurts poor, minority students

Vallas: How to empower Chicago communities to save failing schools

Chicago Teachers Union, affiliates biggest spenders on Chicago politics

Chicago Teachers Union president misses deadline to pay back taxes, penalty

Vallas: ‘Illinois is back,’ but only in Pritzker’s active imagination

Illinois pension debt grows $2.6 billion in 2023, mainly to cover raises

Chicago Teachers Union president owes city $5,579 for utilities

Poverty 4X higher for Chicago high school dropouts than college grads

Chicago car thefts at 11-year high in 2023 before year’s over

5 jobs Illinois imposes heaviest licensing burdens on

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