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“…CPS automatically advanced its 2021 3rd grade Hispanic students to the fourth grade, even though only 12 percent of them were able to read at grade level, according to Wirepoints. The advancement scheme was typical through the entire system, Wirepoints added.”
The methodology of the study was conducted by comparing the gap between White and Black Americans with a bachelor’s degree and high school diploma, and the disparity in standardized test results. Massachusets, New Jersey, South Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wisconsin (in descending order) ranked as the lowest 10 states.
Link said his cooperation with the FBI began simply. He said he passed along information “that was basically public information … more or less procedural information on how … the Senate works.” Then, he confirmed that he began regularly making recordings for the FBI in 2018 and 2019. The only recordings by Link that have been made publicly known, so far, are from 2019.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said half of all felonies in DuPage County are being committed by people who don’t live in the county. “It’s a complete lack of respect for the law. These are people, who because they’re convicted felons, cannot possess a gun. And yet, they do. And, they’re driving around,” Berlin said.
Republicans have spoken out against implementing any pay increase for lawmakers. “While Illinois families struggle, Gov. Pritzker decreased the politician pay [by] a paltry 0.5%. While this change may make it constitutional, it does not make it right,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie. “House Republicans will continue to hold the majority party accountable to not only our constitutional rights but also to Illinois taxpayers.”
SEIU HCII takes anywhere from $264 to $1,260 a year from its members’ paychecks, according to its report with the U.S. Department of Labor; the workers SEIU HCII represents may earn $17.25 an hour as personal assistants or $33.91 for a whole day as child care providers. Yet just 22% of the union’s spending is on representing workers, according to the same report.
The grocery store initiative would assist independent grocers to open or expand grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods. The measure also contains a dollar-store deterrent, where those who are eligible for grant money must carry a substantial variety of perishable foods.
Our Wirepoints column republished.
With the real estate firm under growing pressure to raise money to recapitalize the 53-acre mixed-use campus planned along the Chicago River between Lincoln Park and Bucktown, the pension fund’s investment committee voted during a May 23 meeting to investigate an opportunity to become Sterling Bay’s primary financial partner on the development, according to a video of the public meeting and investor documents obtained by Crain’s.
“I want to make sure the ownership of the Chicago Bears, the Park District and the residents of the city of Chicago have a real seat at the table to discuss a pathway forward,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said, declaring himself “the hardest-working person in the city of Chicago” and promising to approach the discussions with “care, sensitivity and thoughtfulness.”
The communication system is called “Parents For Chicago,” and it alerts parents when a tip about a large teen takeover is being planned. The group said through this tip line, they have stopped four planned takeovers so far since Memorial Day. One tip came in Wednesday about a teen takeover at North Avenue Beach after Chicago Public Schools lets out for the year at 2 p.m.
The Illinois Constitution gives lawmakers a Cost-of-Living Adjustment to their salaries each year. With inflation sky rocketing, both Senate and House members were going to see a five thousand dollar increase to their salaries, from $85 thousand to $90 thousand per year. That increase turned out to actually violate the Constitution, which limits the cost-of-living adjustment to a maximum of a five percent raise.
Opponents say the measure denies citizens access to court and it’s possible the law could be challenged in federal court. State Sen. Terry Bryant said during debate, “We have circuit courts in this state for a specific reason and that is so that people are able to go to their courts and have their grievances heard. Not so that we can make it more convenient for the person that was mentioned previously which is the attorney general.”
Gov. JB Pritzker could soon modify a diversion program for first-time nonviolent firearms offenses that would give younger defendants probation rather than prison.
A report by Wirepoints looks at Illinois’ overall economic performance since Gov. JB Pritzker took office in 2019. The report shows 70,000 fewer jobs in that time frame and that Illinois’ real GDP growth was 3.2% from 2019 to 2022, which ranked 10th worst in the country over that time frame.
Former state Rep. Jeanne Ives, of Breakthrough Ideas, said Gov. JB Pritzker gave the money to Black Lives Matter Lake County, even though its leader has pleaded guilty to felony battery of a police officer multiple times. In addition, Ives said an investigation shows that there is no physical presence of BLM in Waukegan even though the group was required to open an office.
In 2022, 83.2% of Chicago public students graduated within four years. That’s four percentage points below the statewide graduation rate. But the graduation rate in CPS has increased more since 2019 than the statewide average. The graduation rate in CPS has increased by nearly seven percentage points during the past four years, compared to a 1.1 percentage point increase statewide.
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney said they won’t be adopting policies like the one in Cook County. Macon County won’t either. “To say it’s going to end the cycle, it’s not going to end it,” said Macon County State’s Attorney Scott Rueter. “What’s going to end the cycle is people don’t commit crimes.”
ComEd and Peoples Gas are requesting record-setting rate increases from Illinois customers. If the rate hikes are approved, the Citizens Utility Board says Chicago customers could be paying about $18 more a month.
If the contract doesn’t specify when a freelance worker will get paid for their work, contractors would have to get paid no later than 30 days after finishing the job. Contracting employers would also not be allowed to offer less compensation in exchange for a quicker payment.
Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison was in Chicago on Tuesday, touting the economic benefits the convention will bring to the city, where some 50,000 people attending the event will be “buying stuff here in Chicago.” The DNC will be bringing “some of our top donors in the country” to Chicago in the fall to “give them a preview of the convention here in Chicago.”
According to officials, Bucktown development, spurred by a $20 million investment, will reinvent Vienna Beef’s “once beloved” factory location at 2501 N. Damen into a mixed-use space. It’s also set to house company headquarters, with “state-of-the-art” offices for approximately 50 employees.
Jim Dey: “Of course, Republican lawmakers want the pay hikes as much as the Democrats. But in prior years — when party legislative control could shift because of a few lost House or Senate seats — both parties tried to avoid setting off a pay-raise controversy. Between the change in the law and Illinois’ shifting political makeup, that reluctance has disappeared.”
Chicago’s future depends in large part upon the success of today’s Hispanic students. But the city’s school system is failing them. Only 17 of every 100 Hispanic students can read at grade level. And just 12 of every 100 are proficient in math.
“What I find disingenuous is, where were these individuals when schools were being shut down and closed? Did they have a critique then?” Johnson asked. Are you kidding, Mayor Johnson?
Ted was interviewed as part of Fox News Illinois’ investigation into the salary hike state lawmakers just gave themselves. State politicians are responsible for the policies that consistently leave Illinois at the bottom of the barrel nationally – they don’t deserve a new annual salary that’s 25% higher than the state’s median household income of $72,205.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the host of new bills about to be signed by Governor Pritzker, why Medicaid is severely underfunded, why there are no true accountability measures for programs that waste taxpayer money, why most Republicans refuse to put up a fight against bills that harm the state, and more.
“The transit crisis is also an urban crisis. Successful cities thrive on density; transit enables it. Unless Congress, governors, and mayors figure out how to get more people back on trains and buses regularly, the already brittle urban success story of the twenty-first century will crack…Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington—all are missing more than 40 percent of pre-pandemic transit users, with bus use recovering faster than subway or commuter-rail ridership.”
The Broadway Armory Park has been used as an emergency homeless shelter during the pandemic. Neighbors worry this could mean youth and senior programs will get cut to make room for migrants.
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