Last year, a bill aimed at giving families in the worst performing Chicago schools a better opportunity failed in the Illinois House. This year, its back.

by Collin Hitt Chicago mayoral hopeful Gery Chico says that he’d be interested in bringing Paul Vallas back to run the city’s public school system.  Chico mentioned the possibility to Chicago Magazine columnist Carol Thelsenthal, who had floated the idea of bringing Michelle Rhee from Washington, D.C. to Chicago. I asked announced mayoral candidate Gery Chico, a...

by Collin Hitt The unsurprising word has leaked that Chicago schools chief Ron Huberman – a Daley appointee – will leave his post before the beginning of a new administration. Greg Hinz… With Chicago Public Schools officials confirming a Chicago Sun-Times story that schools chief Ron Huberman will leave along with Mayor Richard M. Daley, who else...

by Collin Hitt Ohio created a school voucher program nearly a decade ago. It gives choice to students attending failing schools, not unlike a policy proposed for Chicago by state Sen. James Meeks.  Research has shown that, while still in its infancy, the program was already causing improvement in public schools faced with newfound competition for students.  In time,...

The Problem In recent months, Illinois has been home to an intense debate over school reform. A school voucher bill co-authored by Sen. James Meeks has received a great deal of attention, and for good reason. It would give parents in Chicago’s worst and most overcrowded schools the option to send their children to a...