Votes on Chicago’s March 19 referendum will count, according to an Illinois Appellate Court ruling. Now voters must weigh the merits of the real estate transfer tax hike.
Illinoisans pay the nation’s second-highest gas taxes behind only Californians, thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s automatic gas tax hikes. The next gas tax hike is scheduled for July 1.
Illinois’ institutions of higher education will get nearly $530 million less from lawmakers to run this year than they did in fiscal year 2009, adjusted for inflation. Coupled with rapidly rising pensions, students and their families can expect ever-higher tuition costs.
A Chicago elementary school principal filed a police report after he was told Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recommended his staff punch him in the face.
Chronic absenteeism rates among Illinois public school students increased after the pandemic-era school closures. Rates are even higher among low-income students, limiting their futures.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s answer is always “more money.” But the question is why Chicago’s students are doing so poorly when there’s more money than ever to teach fewer of them.
The Illinois Supreme Court voted to uphold a law consolidating 649 municipal police and firefighter pension funds. It may help the state’s pension woes, but amending the Illinois Constitution is needed for real solutions.
The “gift room” scandal, a botched police raid and a smokestack implosion underscore how the head of Chicago’s Law Department, also known as the corporation counsel, too often lacks independence from the mayor’s office. Chicago’s corporation counsel is appointed by the mayor and can be removed at the mayor’s discretion. Experience in other major cities...