Become a Chalkbeat sponsor
Chicago Public Schools
What is it like serving on a board of education? Here are 16 quotes from Chicago Public Schools’ 21-member partially-elected board that sum up the unpaid job.
After a rash of ICE appearances and arrests, labor leaders and elected officials sharply criticized the federal government’s immigration actions.
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said Tuesday the district should take legal action against the U.S. Department of Education for halting millions in previously awarded magnet school grants to the city’s schools.
Yehiri Gonzalez is among the first cohort of the district’s Teach Chicago Tomorrow program to help graduates get teaching degrees. She started leading her own classroom this fall.
More than 24,000 kids transferred schools within CPS last school year. Chalkbeat Chicago is interested in hearing more about why students transfer.
Enrollment declined among most student groups, including Black and Hispanic students, as well as those learning English as a new language and those who live in temporary housing.
The U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday it will not grant Chicago $5.8 million this year and $17.5 million in remaining years under the Magnet Schools Assistance Program. CPS had two active magnet school grants that support six schools.
The overhaul is aimed at saving money and directing more money directly to schools. Some sources told Chalkbeat a new structure that aligns with Chicago’s school board electoral districts would replace the current network structure.
A letter sent by the school district’s acting general counsel called the U.S. Department of Education’s demands to roll back its Black Student Success Plan and overhaul policies related to transgender students “unreasonable and untenable.”
A new 21-member, partly-elected school board has navigated most of its core functions: picking a leader, approving contracts, and balancing a budget. Interviews with more than a dozen elected and appointed members provide a window into how this experiment in Chicago democracy is going so far.
The move comes two months after the school’s contract was renewed by the Chicago Board of Education and two years after it unveiled plans for a $22 million renovation.
The district is proposing changes that would require employees to give more notice before taking religious holidays and would include explicit language allowing the district to fire employees who are found abusing sick days.
The U.S. Air Force deactivated the Chicago school's program for noncompliance on Aug. 11, one week before school started. CPS announced it would continue JROTC through the U.S. Army.
In a potentially final bid to whip up support for its budget, CPS officials said the desire to reimburse the city for a much-debated pension payment and taking out a $200 million loan would result in cuts to schools and a credit downgrade for the district.
Experts say the district must improve its credit rating and deal with aging buildings.
The new law, called Safe Schools for All, creates protections upheld in a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case, which said all students are afforded access to a free and public education, regardless of immigration status.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and interim CPS CEO Macquline King rang the ceremonial first bell to mark the 2025-26 school year on the playground of Courtenay Language Arts Center.
From changes in enrollment to changes in the classroom, there are several things to watch for this school year.
The charter school was one of five the Chicago Board of Education voted to save and turn into a district-run school. But the school community worries about its future after the Archdiocese of Chicago put the building up for sale.
The Chicago Board of Education is split on the district’s budget proposal for next school year. A group of mostly appointed members has asked CPS to alter its proposal that it includes a much-debated pension payment and loan.