As school discipline dispariti...

Aug 9, 2018 by

As school discipline disparities worsen, Illinois has yet to require reforms

By Kalyn Belsha – Four years ago, Illinois passed the first in a series of discipline reforms meant to reduce student...

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From police to schools to tran...

Jun 22, 2018 by

From police to schools to transit, a crisis of accountability in Chicago

Curtis Black – If Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s announcement of a splashy but half-baked project for an express line to O’Hare...

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Solitary confinement of juveni...

Jun 1, 2018 by

Solitary confinement of juveniles on the rise in Cook County

As other cities and states have moved to ban using solitary confinement as punishment for teens, the practice has increased at one of...

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Private schools, poised to gro...

Apr 26, 2018 by

Private schools, poised to grow in Illinois, move into closed Chicago public schools

By Kalyn Belsha – When Chicago Public Schools closed an unprecedented 50 schools five years ago, officials repeatedly promised...

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Black America’s distrust of ba...

Feb 23, 2018 by

Black America’s distrust of banks rooted in Reconstruction

By Marcus Anthony Hunter – Harper’s Weekly 1865 Emancipation is about financial security too. “This bank is just what the...

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Opioid crisis ‘whitewashed’ to...

Jan 24, 2018 by

Opioid crisis ‘whitewashed’ to ignore rising black death rate

By Kathie Kane-Willis and Stephanie Schmitz – Much attention has been paid to the opioid crisis in recent years, and for good...

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Thousands of black students le...

Dec 22, 2017 by

Thousands of black students leave Chicago for other segregated districts

  By Kalyn Belsha – When Chicago Public Schools announced plans to close their neighborhood elementary school in March...

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Public universities increasing...

Oct 11, 2017 by

Public universities increasingly out of reach for Illinois’ low-income students

Kyle P. Westbrook – In 1991, I was admitted to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. My mother worked as a telephone...

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‘Neovouchers’ introduced to sc...

Aug 26, 2017 by

‘Neovouchers’ introduced to school funding standoff in Illinois

By Curtis Black – We’ve seen this before, and it isn’t pretty: Governor Bruce Rauner and Springfield Republicans taking a...

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English learners often go with...

Jun 29, 2017 by

English learners often go without required help at Chicago schools

By Kalyn Belsha – Two years ago, Chicago Public Schools officials got some pointed criticism in a report the district...

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For middle-class blacks, succe...

Jun 15, 2017 by

For middle-class blacks, success can be a double-edged sword

By Amanda E. Lewis and Kasey Henricks – Across the country, young people and their families are celebrating the annual ritual...

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School choice is a scam in seg...

May 22, 2017 by

School choice is a scam in segregated neighborhoods

Jitu Brown – Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos seems not to hear the fierce protests of parents, teachers and school officials...

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Emanuel’s mixed messages on Ch...

May 18, 2017 by

Emanuel’s mixed messages on Chicago schools shows lack of credibility

By Curtis Black – Following an adverse court ruling on the city’s school funding lawsuit last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a...

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Chicago school funding crisis ...

Mar 7, 2017 by

Chicago school funding crisis exposes steady gutting of neighborhoods

Curtis Black – Underlying the immediate fiscal crisis at Chicago Public Schools – with CEO Forrest Claypool now threatening to...

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Behind sale of closed schools,...

Jan 19, 2017 by

Behind sale of closed schools, a legacy of segregation

By Kalyn Belsha – Key Elementary School, a sandy-colored brick building on a tree-lined street on Chicago’s West Side, sits...

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‘Decimated’ services for traum...

Oct 21, 2016 by

‘Decimated’ services for traumatized Chicago students to get federal funding

By Kalyn Belsha – As gun violence soars in Chicago, public schools have not been able to devote enough resources to basic...

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Undocumented students benefit ...

Sep 29, 2016 by

Undocumented students benefit most from free City Colleges program

By Melissa Sanchez – When city and school officials launched the Chicago Star Scholarship program back in 2014, they promised a...

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Black graduation rate rises, b...

Sep 20, 2016 by

Black graduation rate rises, but funding cuts jeopardize improvements

By Kalyn Belsha – Marshall High School achieved a major milestone recently: More than half its students graduated for the first...

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Financial aid barriers limit c...

Sep 14, 2016 by

Financial aid barriers limit college access for undocumented youth

By Melissa Sanchez – Lisseth Perez did not graduate at the top of her class from Chicago’s Hancock College Prep in 2015, but...

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Blaming teachers not the way t...

Sep 10, 2016 by

Blaming teachers not the way to resolve teacher contract talks

By Gina Caneva – Nothing says “Welcome back to school” to Chicago students, parents, and teachers quite like the threatening...

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