Between 1,600 and 1,700 positions based inside schools could be cut, according to a presentation used to brief board members. The presentation suggests there are ways to lessen the blow, specifically by getting more state funding or more city money than it is already expecting from special taxing districts meant to spur development, known as TIFs.

In 2024, Chicago’s murder clearance rate was 56 percent, according to the department. But that includes “exceptional clearances” in which no arrest was made because the suspect died or because prosecutors declined to file charges. The percentage of murders cleared by an arrest in Chicago is only 25 percent.

“While the union claims students will ‘greatly benefit from seeing this level of advocacy,’ is calling for boycotts and labor stoppages more valuable than classroom instruction for struggling students? Why is CTU qualified to judge employers that their students and communities need?”

A report last year by the commercial real estate data company CommercialCafe said that of the 30 biggest cities in the United States, Chicago has the second-highest amount of office space that could be converted to residential use. Nearly 27 percent of Chicago’s office stock has conversion potential, the report said, with the bulk of the space it identified deemed to be “largely viable” for conversion.

The CTA spent about $83 million on private security contracts last year, an amount bus drivers described as severely inadequate to deal with the mounting threat they, along with riders, face on their routes. In 2024, 184 CTA employees reported being assaulted while on the job.

“These include an attack on student proficiency by increasing the number of ‘sustainable community schools,’ which have among the worst outcomes in the district. The contract also attacks the district’s charter schools, limiting their growth and enrollment and clearing the way for their ultimate closure. With fewer than 1 in 3 CPS students reading at grade level, parents need more options and support – not fewer.”

“Presumably, (Mayor Brandon) Johnson wasn’t asked by the Massachusetts school department’s board for input as they considered Martinez’s application. But we have little doubt that Massachusetts officials dug deeply into what transpired in Chicago. At the recent meeting where the Massachusetts board members voted to recommend Martinez for the post, that state’s Secretary of Education, Patrick Tutwiler, praised Martinez for his ‘proven track record of success in extraordinarily unideal contexts.'”

As we look ahead to this year’s budget, our city faces two distinct challenges. We have a structural imbalance due to decades of neglecting our pension obligations while relying heavily on short-term fixes. At the same time, we face a presidential administration that has threatened to cut the services that Chicagoans rely upon, potentially putting an even greater strain on our municipal budget. In response to the chaos we are seeing at the federal level, we must come together as Chicagoans, roll up our sleeves, and get to work protecting our city services while taking steps to address the structural

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Each measure is laudable, but they can lack coordination, are not always driven by reliable data and need to be undertaken more strategically than have been managed to date.”

“While the keffiyeh is a traditional Middle Eastern garment with cultural significance, in recent decades it has often been used as a political symbol — particularly by extremist groups that promote violence against the Jewish people and seek the destruction of the State of Israel. … We understand that Mayor Johnson may not have intended to cause harm, but at a time of historic antisemitic threat levels, including in Chicago, symbols matter.”

As part of the host city agreement (HCA), the regional casino operator wants to sell a 25% interest in its permanent gaming venue in Chicago to people of color and women, but white men aren’t eligible to participate in the offering. The suits being referenced were filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) against the City of Chicago, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), and Bally’s Chicago Casino and a

The shift could be tied to the city’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, which imposes strict rules on how landlords must handle security deposits, said Jeff Weinberg, founder of Drexel Properties and co-president of the Northwest Side Building Coalition. To avoid the legal risks that come with handling security deposits, many landlords have turned to move-in fees as a simpler alternative.

“Rahm Emanuel is an easy enough target for a man like Johnson, and not merely because he organized a labor strike against Emanuel. It is because, even though absence tends to make the heart grow fonder, Emanuel is still an immensely controversial figure in Chicago.”