Ariel Cheung

Chicago has lost a quarter of its black teaching force in six years — when its student body is increasingly non-white. How can the district retain more teachers of color?

Chicago is recruiting more substitute teachers with pay bumps at hard-to-fill schools and relaxed restrictions on retirees.

History professor and Chicago school board member Elizabeth Todd-Breland discusses efforts to increase teacher diversity in public schools.

As it sprinkles academic programs citywide to spread opportunity more equitably, Chicago has found that half the schools with expanded offerings gained enrollment.

The issues with the technology portal, shared with wry despair on social media, capped off the $7.9 million program’s second quarter in use.

“We are taking a much more nuanced approach this year,” a school district official said.

As teachers cast ballots on their five-year contract Thursday and into Friday, some report feeling unsettled, particularly as questions surrounding issues such as pay for veteran educators continue to go unanswered.

The state’s population of Latino students has surged over the past decade, but the slower-evolving teacher force has not kept pace, new data from the Illinois Report Card show.

The tentative agreement that ended the strike spells out some possibilities for improvement but also renews questions about CPS's special education capacity.

Follow along here for live updates as we track negotiations, rallies, and more.