Illinois to eliminate poor attendance from school ratings

By Hannah Schmid

05/19/2026

High chronic absenteeism will no longer hurt a school’s state rating.

Chicago Public Schools’ academic struggles top Chicagoans’ concerns

By Hannah Schmid

05/31/2024

Half of Chicagoans said their biggest concern was “students not learning enough academically.” They expect Chicago Public Schools to “prepare students to go to college.” But the Chicago Teachers Union is demanding more schools that fail those expectations.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Illinois has more teachers, fewer students than 10 years ago

By Hannah Schmid

09/07/2022

There are fewer students and more teachers in Illinois today than a decade ago, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. Teachers unions push the shortage myth to gain power.

TAGS: teacher shortage

Illinois cannabis taxes among nation’s highest, could keep black market thriving

By Austin Berg

01/09/2020

Springfield lawmakers have yet to learn the lesson that money walks. And it’s not just to other states. Sometimes, it walks past the legal dispensary with a 40% tax rate and into a dealer’s house.

TAGS: Chicago, Cook County, decriminalization, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, legalization, marijuana, medical marijuana, Springfield, tax burden, taxes, THC

Burke to the future: Chicago alderman wants to ban self-driving cars

By Brendan Bakala

08/23/2017

Alderman Ed Burke argued in favor of a ban on driverless cars with a movie clip from “Back to the Future.”

TAGS: Ed Burke, manufacturing, regulations

Chicago aldermen propose ban on driverless cars

By Amy Korte

09/15/2016

A new ordinance would ban all cars with autonomous technology from Chicago, preventing Uber from expanding the fleet of self-driving vehicles it recently introduced in Pittsburgh.

TAGS: Chicago, collaborative economy, jobs, regulations, Uber

Rauner reaffirms commitment to criminal-justice reform

By Bryant Jackson-Green

01/22/2016

Gov. Bruce Rauner highlights the continued need for criminal-justice reform to save taxpayer dollars and restore opportunity. To get there, Illinois must embrace reforms that enable ex-offenders to provide for themselves and their families once they’ve served their sentences.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform, prison population

The high cost of recidivism

By Bryant Jackson-Green

10/20/2015

Repeat offenses cost Illinois taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year; removing obstacles to work would help combat this problem.

TAGS: recidivism

What Illinois can learn from South Dakota’s innovative drunk-driving punishment

By Bryant Jackson-Green

07/22/2015

South Dakota’s sobriety program is a good model to combat drunk driving; Illinois should adopt it.

TAGS: DUI

Teachers, Unions, and Transparency

08/19/2010

by Kate Piercy From S.T. Karnick at The American Culture: In case you missed it, LA Times reporters Jason Felch, Jason Song and Doug Smith used California’s public records law to obtain seven years of math and English test scores from the Los Angeles Unified School District. They asked Richard Buddin, a well-respected analyst at the RAND Corporation,...

RAND Corporation

Illinois to eliminate poor attendance from school ratings

Chicago Public Schools’ academic struggles top Chicagoans’ concerns

Illinois has more teachers, fewer students than 10 years ago

Illinois cannabis taxes among nation’s highest, could keep black market thriving

Burke to the future: Chicago alderman wants to ban self-driving cars

Chicago aldermen propose ban on driverless cars

Rauner reaffirms commitment to criminal-justice reform

The high cost of recidivism

What Illinois can learn from South Dakota’s innovative drunk-driving punishment

Teachers, Unions, and Transparency

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