Waukegan

Waukegan, beleaguered, needs school choice for a comeback

08/01/2014
Chicago’s North Shore is synonymous with million-dollar homes and top-notch schools. For decades, families have left Chicago to raise their families and educate their children in the North Shore suburbs. But tucked away within those wealthy villages is a city with schools on the other end of the spectrum. Waukegan, with a population of more...

Three-year anniversary of Gov. Walker signing Act 10

By Paul Kersey
03/11/2014
Three years ago today, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker overhauled the state’s labor law by signing Act 10. Act 10 changed the balance of power in Wisconsin, shifting it from government union officials back to taxpayers. Government unions were limited to bargaining over salaries. Complicated work rules and lavish benefits – often on terms that were...

TAGS: labor

Spotlight on Waukegan teachers strike

By Justin Hegy
03/10/2014
Waukegan’s teachers have authorized a strike and plan to walk out April 16. The Waukegan teachers union wants a 2.25 percent pay raise, retroactively effective into last year, plus step-and-lane increases, which average 4 to 5 percent in additional increases annually. The union’s demands would cost an additional $4.8 million to taxpayers. The school board...

TAGS: unions

Chicago’s pension red alert

03/10/2014
The Wall Street Journal’s article “Public Pension Red Alert” foreshadows more municipal bankruptcies countrywide as pension costs continue to spiral out of control. One of the cities facing the most stress nationally is Chicago. The city’s pension payments are set to jump to more than $1 billion as laws that allowed the city to skimp on pension payments...

TAGS: Chicago, municipal pensions

Gov. to Schools: Spend Now! Say Thank You.

09/30/2010
by Collin Hitt It looks like Gov. Quinn is taking full campaign advantage of the federal education bailout funds that I discussed yesterday.  I’d expressed some concern that the governor’s office issued some questionable advice to school districts, asking them to spend their federal allocations between now and November – advice that was offered without the...

Strong and Growing: A Performance Review of Charter Schools

By Collin Hitt
05/20/2010
Throughout Illinois, a unique kind of public school is emerging: charter schools. Begun by non-profit groups, teams of teachers, or even universities, these new schools are trying innovative approaches to public education. Most importantly, they are creating additional choices for families, often in communities where public education has failed to meet the needs of parents...

Unsung Heroes: Charter Schools

By Collin Hitt
05/25/2009
The Issue Throughout Illinois, a new kind of public school has emerged: charter schools. The “charter school movement,” as it has been called, has been a success in Illinois.  Studies have consistently shown that charter schools routinely perform above the norm at comparable district schools.  To date, however, most of these studies of school performance...