Events
August 9 Veggie Fest Chicago 2025
A new report looks at Illinois students who graduated high school between 2008 and 2012 and their education, career, and earning outcomes. Students who obtained a college degree made more money, but disparities in education and career outcomes persist.
More than 1,450 staff at schools were laid off Friday. Budget documents posted online indicate the school-based workforce could shrink by more than 450 positions.
Illinois lawmakers proposed a bill that would have required parents to notify school districts if they were going to homeschool their children. But opponents called it “draconian” and vowed to keep fighting it.
CPS owes teachers retroactive raises for last school year and could be making more school-based cuts this month as it works to close a gaping deficit.
The proposed changes are aimed at providing more students the opportunity to move up a grade or take accelerated classes. Officials say internal data show most acceleration applicants come from the north side of the city, which is wealthier and whiter than other parts of Chicago.
A new report looks at Illinois students who graduated high school between 2008 and 2012 and their education, career, and earning outcomes. Students who obtained a college degree made more money, but disparities in education and career outcomes persist.
More than 1,450 staff at schools were laid off Friday. Budget documents posted online indicate the school-based workforce could shrink by more than 450 positions.
Illinois lawmakers proposed a bill that would have required parents to notify school districts if they were going to homeschool their children. But opponents called it “draconian” and vowed to keep fighting it.
CPS owes teachers retroactive raises for last school year and could be making more school-based cuts this month as it works to close a gaping deficit.
The proposed changes are aimed at providing more students the opportunity to move up a grade or take accelerated classes. Officials say internal data show most acceleration applicants come from the north side of the city, which is wealthier and whiter than other parts of Chicago.
People who took the community input survey said they want the next leader of Chicago schools to prioritize high-quality instruction, safety, and communication. The partly-elected school board is also requiring the next leader to hold a superintendent’s license.
Congress approved the support for English learners and afterschool programs. But the dollars expected on July 1 are now on hold, creating ‘unnecessary uncertainty,’ Sanders says.
The district is changing how it assigns staff serving students with disabilities as labor unions voice concerns.
Reductions target crossing guards and central-office employees. Trimming a $734 million deficit would require bigger moves.
The $734 million funding gap assumes the district will reimburse the city for a pension payment that covers school district and city workers.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois lawmakers were hoping to pass a bill requiring school districts to create a policy limiting the use of the devices in class this spring. But it stalled in the House.
With a new interim CEO, the school district must close a $529 million deficit
Here’s what I learned developing a unit on the Underground Railroad - and why we changed course.
Outgoing CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said he underestimated how hard it would be to convince Mayor Brandon Johnson to release money collected in tax-increment-financing districts.
Rachael Mahmood traveled around Illinois to hear from educators, administrators, students, and parents. Race, background, and years in the classroom often impacted their answers.
Declining school enrollment has left 30% of Chicago public schools at least half-empty. The city’s failure to address this problem has come at a high cost to the district — and its students.
Become a Chalkbeat sponsor
Pedro Martinez amended his lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education for firing him without cause to seek damages from the teachers union and its president Stacy Davis Gates, alleging they waged a “demonization campaign” against him.
Mayor Brandon Johnson first appointed Thomas to the board last fall after the previous board resigned en masse.
In a close vote, the board voted to appoint King, despite concerns by some members over her record.
Chalkbeat spoke with four students who entered high school in 2021 and are graduating this spring. These young people don’t know a world without smartphones and social media and experienced a pandemic during puberty.
The program started in seven Chicago schools in 2019. Today, it’s expanded to about 400 schools.
Since an influx of migrant students began arriving in Chicago in 2022, the number of Chicago Public Schools required by state law to open a bilingual program increased by about 20%, according to records obtained by Chalkbeat and Block Club Chicago.
Illinois lawmakers finalized the fiscal year 2026 budget hours before the end of the spring legislative session. Here is what they agreed to allocate to education.
The school board also approved a resolution to impose new regulations on charter operators, and to lobby the state for changes to the law governing charters.
The school board approved the 2025-26 calendar last year, but then had to change it to comply with its new collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.
The bill requires the Illinois State Board of Education to create guidance around establishing and expanding dual language programs across the state.
The school board is currently considering five people for the job of interim CEO, who will replace outgoing schools chief Pedro Martinez.
Schools such as Richards High School tried more flexible grading during the pandemic. They are reversing course after students were passing with little effort and weren’t coming to class.
Illinois lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow school districts to decide whether they want to use students’ test scores in teacher, principal, and assistant principal evaluations. This would end a requirement that schools must tie teachers’ performance to students’ success.
The number of CPS high school students skipping at least 35 days doubled since 2019. Yet, the district's graduation rate continues to rise.
State education officials are considering changing the state’s testing system at a time when students’ scores still lag behind pre-pandemic results.
The district is putting together a budget for the 2025-26 school year with no cuts to schools, but the proposal may not come to fruition.
The mayor said the raises are necessary to address a teacher shortage in the early childhood education sector.
Chicago Public Schools put out to bid 20 properties, most of them closed schools from 2013. The journey to repurpose the old schools could be long and winding.
A required training for Chicago Board of Education members focused on Illinois’ school improvement and accountability system. That system could change soon, but some board members worry any labeling of schools is more harmful than helpful.
Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova told families in an email she plans to depart the district after 24 years as a teacher, principal, and district official. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez will also leave in June for a job leading Massachusetts schools after being fired without cause in December.