Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Matt Paprocki: Mayoral race is a good time to decide whether CTU has the right priorities
The Chicago mayoral race might be a performance review of Chicago’s current executive leader, but the election also presents an opportunity to review a group of political leaders the public never elected.
That group would be Chicago Teachers Union leaders who make up the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators and who are looking to place their guy in City Hall. The union has thrown its financial and public support behind mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson, a former CTU teacher and a political operative who still earned a salary as a legislative coordinator for the union as of June.
Chicago Tribune: Just let the Bears go? Chicago’s mayoral candidates on what they’d do to keep the team — and what happens to Soldier Field.
For some of the challengers for Chicago mayor, the departure of the Bears is a foregone conclusion. Some want to keep the team but have offered few specifics. Some have given an emphatic “no” to the use of city tax dollars. And then there’s the problem of what to do with a Bear-less Soldier Field.
At a forum in December, three candidates — Paul Vallas, Ja’Mal Green and 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer — quipped that the city should just let its NFL team go. Green elaborated that the next mayor should focus on revitalizing Soldier Field by “maybe a couple of $100 million” so it can be leased for college sports or to another NFL team.
Chicago Sun-Times: UIC faculty union to strike after failing to reach agreement with administration
Faculty members at the University of Illinois Chicago are going on strike Tuesday after nine months of negotiations and failing to reach a contract agreement during a marathon bargaining session Monday.
Belleville News-Democrat: Conflict and consensus lead to $100 million bond referendum for Edwardsville schools
Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7 held a series of “engagement sessions” last fall to get input from residents on plans being considered to meet goals and solve problems.
District officials got an earful.