Illinois

Illinois has second-highest rate of outbound migration in country

By Michael Lucci
01/27/2014
Why do moving companies love Illinois politicians? Because they keep a heavy traffic flow moving out of Illinois. At the end of each year, moving companies release annual migration trends data based upon a compilation of customers who move in and out of different states. United Van Lines is the largest mover in the country,...

TAGS: outmigration, population

Top 10 facts about the proposed progressive tax hike

By illinoispolicy
01/26/2014
Top 10 facts about the proposed progressive tax hike The beginning of 2014 marked an important milestone for Illinois taxpayers: we are just one year away from tax relief. Illinois taxpayers currently fork over 5 percent of their paycheck to the state. The good news is Illinois’ income tax rate is slated to drop to...

Top 10 things every Illinoisan should know about local government transparency

By illinoispolicy
01/26/2014
For decades, residents of Illinois have been barraged with a constant stream of public corruption stories in the media. In recent years, these tales include a governor trying to sell a Senate seat, a U.S. Congressman illegally siphoning off campaign funds for personal use, and a record breaking corruption story from the small town of...

10 Illinois education facts you should know

By illinoispolicy
01/25/2014
Despite increased funding over the past10n years, most Illinois elementary schools and high schools still struggle to teach students the basics of reading and math. Some of this is due to laws that allow poor-performing teachers to stay in classrooms, but most is due to the structure of Illinois’ education system itself. Here are 10...

Evanston 6th in state to earn a 100% on online transparency audit

By Brian Costin
01/24/2014
The Illinois Policy Institute awarded the city of Evanston a Sunshine Award at the city’s Jan. 13 board meeting. By posting everything on the Illinois Policy Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, Evanston recently became the sixth local taxing body in Illinois to garner a perfect transparency score, joining Kane County, Hanover Township, Orland Park, Lombard and...

TAGS: Evanston, good government, Sunshine Award, transparency

Illinois is losing the school choice race

01/24/2014
It’s common knowledge that Illinois lags behind other states when it comes to embracing education reforms.  But a new report recently released by the Friedman Foundation shows just how much catching up the state has to do. The 2014 edition of the Foundation’s “The ABCs of School Choice” highlights every school choice program in the...

TAGS: charter schools, school choice, vouchers

Illinois loses jobs and falls further behind national unemployment rate

By Michael Lucci
01/24/2014
Illinois continues to fall behind the national unemployment average in December, as the Illinois unemployment rate moved to 8.6 percent – nearly two percentage points above the national average of 6.7 percent. The state lost 3,200 nonfarm payroll jobs in December. Illinois’ nonpayroll jobs loss came despite the fact that the U.S. added 70,000 nonfarm...

TAGS: jobs, unemployment

Illinoisans flee the state for neighboring Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin

By Michael Lucci
01/24/2014
The story of Illinois’ steady out-migration problem is well known, but just where are Illinoisans moving to? Is the outflow driven entirely by retirees and beach-goers moving to Florida? Not according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which just released its 2012 American Community Survey of state-to-state migration flow data. These data use census surveys to...

TAGS: population

10 Illinois education facts you should know

01/22/2014
Despite increased funding over the past 10 years, most Illinois elementary schools and high schools still struggle to teach students the basics of reading and math. Some of this is due to laws that allow poor-performing teachers to stay in classrooms, but most is due to the structure of Illinois’ education system itself. Here are...
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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