Community & Wraparound Programs

Scores of Illinois schools taught abstinence last year. They could continue despite questions about the message
Chicago

7 hours ago

District management

Chicago

August 16, 2019

‘Will we rise to the occasion?’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot issues a challenge to Chicago school administrators two weeks from start of school.

How I Teach

Chicago

August 16, 2019

No worksheets here: This Chicago kindergarten teacher wants to bring play back to classrooms

join us

Chicago

August 5, 2019

Chicago educators — join us for Chalkbeat happy hour

Contract tracker

Chicago

Updated August 13, 2019

#TrackingtheContract: Three weeks before school starts, union president says negotiations show little progress

Early childhood

Race for mayor

Chicago

February 11, 2019

How to help Chicago’s younger learners? Mayoral frontrunners skip a chance to say.

Chicago is in the first year of a four-year universal pre-kindergarten rollout, and the city’s next mayor will determine much of the fate of the program.

city hall watch

Chicago

February 6, 2019

Why Rahm Emanuel’s rollout of universal pre-K has Chicago preschool providers worried

Rahm Emanuel’s big-budget, top-down expansion of public preschool has provoked high anxiety among community providers.

cry for help

Chicago

November 20, 2018

View from the child care trenches: ‘Those of us cleaning the poop are not making it’

Escalating costs, tougher rules and a critical shortage of qualified staffer endanger the survival of infant centers, day care programs, and community-based preschools.

More Recent Articles

Budget & finance

Chicago

August 13, 2019

More administrators, more money for small schools: Here are 8 items getting more funding in Chicago schools budget

A look at eight growing investments give a glimpse of the district’s priorities and challenges in the coming year.

early learning

Chicago

August 9, 2019

With 8,000 vacancies across city pre-Ks, Lightfoot urges Chicago families to apply

With the start of school three weeks away, Mayor Lori Lightfoot took the podium at a West Humboldt Park center to urge more families to apply for preschool.

Budget news

Chicago

August 8, 2019

Chicago to spend $820 million on fixing up schools. Is yours on the list?

Chicago plans to spend $820 million next year fixing up 300 of its schools and building more pre-K classrooms.

talking testing

Chicago

August 8, 2019

Illinois says goodbye to the basic skills test, long a barrier for teacher candidates of color

Amid an ongoing teacher shortage, Illinois will scrap a basic skills test that it has long required aspiring teachers to pass.

Diversity & Equity

Budget & finance

Chicago

August 2, 2019

5 big questions for Mayor Lori Lightfoot about Chicago school funding reform

Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised to reconsider how Chicago funds schools during the next school year and explore ways to spend more on students with the most need.

Curriculum and instruction

Chicago

July 30, 2019

Room at the top: Chicago schools chief looks to fill leadership vacancies

Chicago Public Schools seeks critical additions to its senior leadership team.

History of racism

Chicago

July 29, 2019

Chicago teachers to receive classroom guide to 1919 race riots by fall

Mayor Lori Lightfoot emphasized the importance of educating Chicago’s students about the city’s “painful history with racism.”

More from Chalkbeat

prepared

Colorado

6 hours ago

Back-to-school supplies in some Colorado schools include kitty litter and buckets for lockdowns

“We want to give our kids dignity in the middle of this type of crisis."

growth plans

New York

11 hours ago

As pre-K teachers celebrate pay raises, day care union seizes the moment to reach more schools

On the heels of a labor agreement to boost teacher pay, and with a merger with its much larger counterpart, DC 1707 is seizing the moment to try to grow.

Results are in

Tennessee

August 15, 2019

Most test scores increase in Tennessee’s largest district; reading results down for youngest students

State test scores for Shelby County Schools increased this year in every subject except English for elementary and middle school students, according to state data.