Here’s what Waukegan High School student Kyra Lyons had to say to CBS Chicago on the subject of the Waukegan public-school teacher strike: “Neither of them are doing anything to help the students. It’s just about money and what they want.” Kyra is a perceptive young woman. The Lake County Federation of Teachers, which has...

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...

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...

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...

The Problem What would you do if your children could be on a championship-level team…but they weren’t allowed to try out? Every day, kids from many of Illinois’s roughest communities prove they can compete in the classroom. All they need is the opportunity—an opportunity often provided by charter schools. Tragically, thousands of children are not...

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...