Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Chicago Public Schools gets 53% boost in per-pupil revenues, but academics lag
Chicago’s mayor has talked about the amount of money invested in his city’s public schools and the Chicago teachers’ union has said the system has been underfunded.
Yet, data from the Chicago Public Schools budget shows the district has seen a significant increase in funding partnered with a drop in enrollment, while academic achievement has stagnated.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago could become largest US city to independently abolish tipped wage under Mayor Brandon Johnson compromise
Chicago would be the largest American city to move on its own to abolish a subminimum wage for tipped workers under a deal reached Monday between Mayor Brandon Johnson’s allies in the City Council and the restaurant lobby.
The new substitute ordinance, set to be introduced in a City Council committee this week, would mandate that Chicago businesses offer tipped workers the same minimum wage as all other employees in the city within the next five years, according to its sponsors.
Chicago Sun-Times: Congestion, chaos from Mexican Independence Day crowds must be addressed, City Council members say
Chicago’s Mexican American community needs a daylong downtown parade or festival to celebrate its ethnic pride and avoid the crowd control problems and traffic chaos of last weekend, several City Council members of Mexican descent said Monday.
Their call for a downtown location to express ethnic pride followed a weekend of Mexican Independence Day celebrations that inconvenienced thousands, endangered others and injured at least two police officers, one of whom nearly lost half an ear.
ABC 7: Chicago takes on new approach to fight pollution problems, focusing on environmental justice
Pollution problems in certain Chicago neighborhoods are prompting the city to take a new approach to how it addresses environmental concerns.
The changes come on the heels of a new study that focuses on environmental justice.
When a contractor imploded the old Crawford Coal plant chimney in 2020, it sent up a plume of dangerous dust that covered much of Little Village, prompting a community outcry.
Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago Public Schools hired hundreds of tutors with federal COVID money. Can they keep them?
A. Philip Randolph Elementary School parent Victoria Wicks has hair as vibrant as her personality. Last week it was colored a bright teal, but she changes it up frequently — sometimes picking a color requested by the students she tutors.
The mother of eight, with children ranging in age from 10 months to 16 and including twins, is deeply involved at Randolph in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the South Side. Six of Wicks’ children currently attend the school and she’s on two parent councils.
WCIA: The SAFE-T Act is now in effect, and Central Illinois counties are navigating changes in courts, jails
We’ve been talking about it for over a year, and now, the SAFE-T Act is in effect. It’s a topic that leaves people divided. Some counties are ready to go and others still feel work needs to be done.
Illinois is the first state to eliminate cash bail entirely. That means some people behind bars awaiting trial could be eligible for a hearing to be released.