Illinois

Study Guide: Chicago Teachers Union strike

By Chris Andriesen
09/18/2012
Institute Experts on the Chicago Teachers Union Strike A meditation on the Chicago Way The CTU strike has ended and a lot of people are asking: “what happened?” Five things you need to know about Chicago Public Schools Five critical facts to keep in mind during the CTU strike. Cheat Sheet: Chicago Public Schools A...

Meet the Kane County Transparency Team

By Brian Costin
09/17/2012
  Recently, the Institute released the results of transparency audits of 26 northern Illinois counties as part of the Local Transparency Project. Kane County earned the highest grade and became the first county in Illinois to score a 100%, on the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist. Here is a picture of Kane County’s Transparency Team who was responsible for...

CNN: To unions, Chicago is the next Wisconsin

By Collin Hitt
09/15/2012
This post originally appeared at CNN.com Shortly after President Obama took his historic oath of office, a small group of people back in his home state of Illinois gathered to negotiate a key issue of school reform. Before substantive discussions even began, a representative from the Chicago Teachers Union interjected: “For us,” she said, “this is...

Enough on teacher salaries. How much do teachers union bosses make?

By Paul Kersey
09/12/2012
Striking Chicago teachers have at times echoed the themes of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Hostility toward big corporations that benefit from tax breaks and other giveaways (real and imagined) has been a recurring theme.  Yesterday CTU President Karen Lewis told a rally “I’m not afraid to say that we care about our children and we...

Chicago Teachers Union demands huge raise on top of million-dollar pensions

By Jonathan Ingram
09/11/2012
Chicago teachers are striking. You may recall that they were demanding a 30 percent raise earlier this year, which would have spiked the average teacher’s salary to nearly six figures. But nobody seems to be talking about what this will do to a pension system already in trouble. Chicago teachers’ pension fund is woefully underfunded. According to new...

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, pensions

Medicaid expansions have already failed in Illinois

By Jonathan Ingram
09/07/2012
To mark the second anniversary of President Obama’s health care overhaul, voters should turn to his home state of Illinois to see how it will deliver on its promise of quality health care for the most vulnerable. When they do, they will probably not like what they see. As a state senator, President Obama sponsored...

“We are Democrats”

By Paul Kersey
09/07/2012
This will hardly come as news to most readers of this blog, but an occasional reminder is still useful: the ties between unions and the Democratic Party are numerous and strong. That goes for the Chicago Teachers Union and the administration with which they are bargaining. As Randi Weingarten, the head of the CTU’s parent...
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Fighting poverty with employment: Chicago block clubs

Leaders of these organizations on the South and West sides connect residents to jobs and engage youth to build safer neighborhoods.

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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