At Harriet Tubman Elementary School – where enrollment has swelled by about 15 percent since September, serving more English learners – parents raised concerns to their CPS network officials when they found out that the proposed budget could mean losing three core teachers and other staff next year. The surprising suggestion: Fundraise money to fill in the gaps.

Chicago has used a lot of the federal funding to pay for “community schools,” where a coordinator brings in organizations and programs for a myriad of purposes, like violence prevention, academic support for students, social emotional learning, ESL classes for parents and health care clinics for the community.

The city has now reached some level of compliance with 89 percent of the sections of the consent decree, up from 85 percent in the last reporting period. Much of that progress has been made in the first two levels of compliance, which respectively deal with policymaking and training. The city has only reached full, or operational, compliance with 7% of consent decree sections.

“Public bargaining, it opens up more dialogue, but it also allows us to create a tidal wave of voices calling for the same thing and envisioning a new school day that can bring joy back into the classroom, that’s got librarians and libraries, sports, music, arts for every student, and we’re looking forward to this process and engaging more stakeholders,” CTU Vice President Jackson Potter said. “I think it’s going to be very popular and historic.”

Rev. Ira Acree’s nomination and the fight over CTA President Dorval Carter’s future exposed tension between two critical parts of Johnson’s political base: progressive Chicagoans who have championed public transportation as a critical function of city government and Black Chicagoans who wish to see longtime leaders elevated to positions of power.

Dressed in black formal wear, the mayor and Chicago’s first lady, Stacie Johnson, walked the red carpet that was rolled out in Booksellers Hall of the White House, while Toto’s hit “Africa” played on violin. “The whole world is here tonight…Chicago is the greatest city in the world,” the mayor told assembled reporters.

Whether college protest encampments or political convention agitators, Chicago needs a way to penalize the few who disrupt life for the rest of us. A nuisance ordinance would do that.

Bronzeville Academy Charter School was forced to leave its campus this spring due to flooding and debris that clogged the drains during a repair of the roof. Asked what will happen to the 320 students now, school CEO Alvin Boutte said, “If we don’t win on appeal, they will be scattered through the neighborhood schools. Some of them are decent schools. I hope they will take what they’ve gotten under Bronzeville.”

State Rep. Curtis Tarver introduced a bill this week to protect child sex abuse victims in court. Tarver said on the House floor that CPS’ top lawyer, Ruchi Verma, “needs to go” for approving the use of the expert witness and the legal strategy in the case, including trying to make the victim’s name public.

The release said the changes were prompted by a need to future-proof the organization amid changing tides in the craft beverage industry. The changes will affect 86 employees.

“Streeterville may be one of the most safe neighborhood of the 77 neighborhoods here, we’re still faced with a lot of crime,” resident Nick Black said.

The post, which was captured by Ald. Debra Silverstein’s office in a screenshot, showed a picture of the Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez with a child. The caption read: “Looking for an anti Zionist pediatrician for this baby. Give me your recs.”

From January through April of 2024, the arrest rate for vehicle theft only reached 3.34 percent – the second-lowest rate on record when comparing the first four months of each year.

Just 1.5 percent of reported sex crimes in Chicago ended with a sex crime conviction with prison time. If you factor in all convictions – including those with and without prison time – the figure improves slightly to 3 percent. Only Boston (.5 percent) and Los Angeles (1.4 percent) had conviction rates for sex crimes lower than Chicago.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration feels Chicago is being unfairly rated solely on its pension liability, despite its sizable population and what it calls the most diversified economy of any major U.S. city. That’s one of the takeaways from the 2024 Chicago Investors Conference, held on Friday at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Loop.

The department has made approximately 70,800 fewer traffic stops so far in 2024, as compared with the year before, while officers have made 425 more felony arrests after traffic stops than they did during the same period last year, officials said.

State lawmakers are advancing a bill this week that would leave the decision on cops in Chicago Public Schools to local school councils, potentially upending the Board of Education’s plan to vote Thursday to remove officers from 39 high schools that still have them.

Earlier this month, the university were sued in Cook County court by three anonymous students seeking class action status to represent all Jewish students who did not take part in last month’s on-campus Gaza solidarity encampment. And this week, another suit was filed.

“It’s getting closer and closer to home,” the teenage victim’s mother said. “These kids don’t have no safety out here.”