State oversight

Chicago special education reforms slow to get off ground, monitor tells state school board
Chicago

3 hours ago

Testing the test

Chicago

11 hours ago

New state school board wrestles with future of testing for teacher hopefuls

New research

Chicago

2 days ago

Illinois is doing better by its youngest learners — but it’s reaching too few of them

Future teachers

Chicago

Updated 2 days ago

In rush to fill teacher vacancies, Illinois has lots of proposals and no immediate solutions

Follow the money

Chicago

April 15, 2019

At more than $1 billion, Illinois tops the nation in school administration spending

Chicago mayor's race

New mayor

Chicago

April 2, 2019

Lori Lightfoot is Chicago’s next mayor — which means big changes are coming to schools

Lori Lightfoot pledged throughout her campaign to bolster the city’s struggling neighborhoods, starting with strengthening public schools.

heated exchange

Chicago

March 8, 2019

Between barbs, Chicago mayoral hopefuls Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot talk schools in first televised runoff debate

Each candidate pledged to steer more resources and attention to the city’s neighborhood schools and declined to give specifics on union negotiations.

Reader survey

Chicago

March 7, 2019

Educators want to hear more from mayoral candidates on elected school board, under-enrollment

Chalkbeat Chicago readers — 60 percent of whom identified as educators or as working in a school-related field — answered a poll that solicited reader questions.

More Recent Articles

Time to decide

Chicago

April 11, 2019

Decision day: What happens when students don’t get their first-choice Chicago high school

Friday is the deadline for eighth graders to accept offers from Chicago high schools in an emotional, competitive process that begets both elation and despair.

Strike watch

Chicago

April 10, 2019

More Chicago strikes ahead? Teachers at small school networks overwhelmingly authorize walkouts

At five small Chicago networks, 94 percent of teachers casting ballots this week voted to authorize a strike if needed, banding together to…

Mayoral Transition

Chicago

April 10, 2019

Lori Lightfoot names four women of color to head education transition team

Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot named the leaders of her education transition team Wednesday — four women of color who have influenced the conversation around…

Technology issues

Chicago

Updated April 10, 2019

Internet failure interrupts ‘Zombie PARCC’ at some Chicago schools

An Internet outage Tuesday across Chicago Public Schools forced several campuses to suspend administration of a state standardized test nicknamed the “Zombie PARCC.”

Early Childhood

universal pre-k

Chicago

March 22, 2019

Big day for preschool: Illinois governor says state universal pre-K coming in 4 years; Chicago invests $77 million in early learning

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he expects Illinois would have universal preschool for 4-year-olds in 4 years. Next year, Chicago will add more than 100 pre-kindergarten classes

Asked and answered

Chicago

March 20, 2019

Four questions for Chelsea Clinton about expanding early learning in cities

Visiting Chicago on Wednesday to help boost attention for literacy programs in laundromats, Chelsea Clinton said that her efforts were inspired in…

big ideas

Chicago

March 20, 2019

Here’s why Chelsea Clinton came to Chicago to visit a laundromat

The former first daughter visited a Hermosa laundromat to bring wider attention to a program championed through her family foundation’s Too Small to Fail initiative.

More from Chalkbeat

salary gap

Colorado

5 hours ago

Think teacher pay is low in Colorado? Try teaching preschool.

Preschool teachers who work in Colorado's district-run schools make far less on average than public elementary teachers.

chartered destination

National

5 hours ago

Charter networks KIPP and IDEA win big federal grants to fund ambitious growth plans

KIPP is slated to receive $86 million over five years. IDEA, a Texas-based charter network, won an expected $116 million over five years.

view from inside

New York

2 hours ago

‘It’s basically jail’: Inside NYC’s suspension centers, where there’s bullying, boredom — and sometimes support

According to more than a dozen interviews with students, center staff, and advocates, the suspension centers are dull at best and chaotic at worst.