Urged on by the Chicago Teachers Union and a coalition of progressive groups, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson launched a bid for mayor of Chicago Thursday, confronting Mayor Lori Lightfoot with a significant challenge.

Johnson, 46, will announce his campaign in Cabrini Green’s Seward Park, near Jenner Academy Elementary School where he began his teaching career.

Illinois students continue to perform far below pre-pandemic levels on state reading and math exams for a second year, test results released Thursday show, offering another sign of the ongoing toll of COVID-19 and remote learning. Students performed at roughly the same level as last year, which is well below the last round of testing before the pandemic in 2019.

Students in all racial and ethnic groups saw their scores drop since 2019, exacerbating historic achievement gaps between white and Asian students and other students of color.

As Gov. J.B. Pritzker comes to the end of his term before the November election, one economic analysis shows how taxes have increased during his time in office.

Pritzker was elected in 2018 to be the state’s 43rd governor. Since taking office the following January, taxes in Illinois have increased each year.

Justice Mary Jane Theis was sworn in Wednesday as chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, the fourth woman in the state’s history to hold the position.

She’ll serve a three-year term replacing Justice Anne M. Burke, whose term as chief justice concluded Tuesday ahead of her planned retirement effective Nov. 30.

When former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is arraigned by telephone next week on new federal conspiracy charges involving AT&T, someone will be conspicuously absent from the line.

Madigan himself.