Springfield

Peoria: Good Vibes and a New School Choice

09/17/2010
by Collin Hitt Central Illinois’s newest charter school held an open house last night. I drove up from Springfield to check it out. Called Quest Charter Academy, the school will grow to enroll children in grades 6 through 12.  It’ll focus on math and science, and will mirror the international compass of local businesses like...

Pension Systems Selling Assets to Cover Benefits

08/25/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen From Crain’s: Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, Springfield, plans to sell $3 billion in investments, or about 10% of its $33.1 billion in assets, in the current fiscal year to pay pension benefits, according to Dave Urbanek, public information officer. The system is the fifth Illinois statewide defined benefit plan to sell off investments this...

The State Un-Fair Questions and Answers

08/24/2010
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The Institute recently released “Spotlight on Spending #9: The State Un-Fair” reviewing the Illinois and DuQuoin State Fairs between fiscal year 2001 and fiscal year 2009. There has been some confusion about the paper, and we’d like to take a blog post to help clarify some of these questions. 1. “If you can...

ISBE Road Trips Cost Taxpayers Millions

06/30/2010
by Kate Piercy According to the State Journal-Register, five key employees of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) have combined to spend more than $300,000 on travel since fiscal year 2005. In addition, the agency has spent $1.2 million to $1.32 million on travel overall in each of those years. Apparently, a good portion of...

Why Aren’t There More Charter Schools in Illinois?

By Collin Hitt
01/31/2008
The most significant development in American public education over the past fifteen years has been the advent of charter schools.  There are more than 4,000 charter schools operating nationwide.   Some states are home to hundreds of charter schools.  Illinois is lagging far behind. There are only 35 charter schools in Illinois, enrolling less than one...

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