Chicago City Hall
As new members join Chicago mayor’s youth commission, Chalkbeat Chicago spoke to two teens who have served on the group, advising city leadership on education.
Some 17,000 students and 1,500 staff would scatter to schools across Chicago. Many others would leave the district altogether.
Thousands of school-aged children are among the new migrant arrivals and enrolling them into local public schools is a priority for the city of Chicago. The new “welcome center” will help newcomer families get help signing up for school, making medical and dental appointments, and enrolling in public benefits, such as food assistance and Medicaid.
The invitation to discuss the budget comes as Johnson tries to involve young people in government decision making.
The committee recommends giving students a greater voice in their education — and paying them for their service.
How will the former teachers union leader approach her role as Chicago’s deputy mayor for education?
Jen Johnson took over as Chicago’s point person at city hall on education, youth, and human services in May. First up on her agenda? Youth jobs, helping migrant families, and expanding community schools.
The deadline to join the advisory body is July 1.
The details of the new policy are still being worked out, but would make Chicago Public Schools a leader nationally and bring the nation’s fourth largest school district in line with a new expanded parental leave policy for city workers.
City residents ages 14 to 24 are eligible to apply for the six-week jobs program. Numbers show participation rates have yet to bounce back from a pandemic decline.
A decade after leaving the classroom to help the Chicago Teachers Union build political power and improve conditions outside schools, Brandon Johnson has been sworn in as the city’s 57th mayor.
As Chicago’s next deputy mayor of education, Jen Johnson will oversee policy related to the city’s public schools, youth, and families. Historically, the deputy mayor of education also represents the mayor in contract talks with the teachers union.
The building at 7627 S. Constance Ave. has not been a school since 2014, when students were moved to the new South Shore International College Preparatory High School. It’s served as a temporary police training facility since 2020.
Millennium Park bans people younger than 18 from being in the park without an adult after 6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Bag checks at beaches are also planned.
The election of a teachers union organizer over a former district chief in Chicago is a win for local progressives. It could also be a bellwether for public education policy in the historically Democratic city and beyond.
Chalkbeat Chicago sat down with Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson for a brief interview. He talked about being the last mayor with control of Chicago Public Schools, what he told his kids about his new job, and what it means to be a public school parent.
Johnson won with 51.4% of the vote, according to preliminary election results. He will be the last mayor with control of Chicago Public Schools.
Brandon Johnson’s biggest donors are teachers unions. Paul Vallas is raking in cash from wealthy individuals — some of whom have supported charter schools and other education reform efforts in Chicago.
A new mayor will face a school system with declining enrollment, a fiscal cliff, another round of labor negotiations, and the transition to an elected school board.
Chalkbeat breaks down Paul Vallas’ and Brandon Johnson’s positions on education issues.
Supporters of the former Chicago schools chief Paul Vallas interrupted a press conference held by Brandon Johnson backers aimed at denouncing Vallas’ schools record ahead of the heated mayoral runoff election.
As the Chicago Teachers Union found its political footing, Johnson worked on the union’s front line. Now, his years of knocking on doors might be his secret weapon to win over voters.
The top two candidates to be Chicago’s next mayor are headed to a runoff election. Both have deep experience in public education, but differ on many key challenges facing the school district. Here’s how they answered a Chalkbeat questionnaire.
With nearly all precincts reporting, former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas and teachers union organizer Brandon Johnson are headed to a runoff to be Chicago’s next mayor on April 4.
Candidates have taken aim at Vallas, arguing he helped create Chicago schools’ current financial problems and laid the groundwork that led to the eventual closing of Black and Latino schools.
Lightfoot struggled with labor relations and pandemic school closures, changed her views on an elected school board, and plowed more city money into school building repairs during her first term.
Early childhood education needs more funding, say Chicago’s mayoral candidates. However, each candidate’s proposal differs in how to do it.
The Cook Commissioner and Teachers Union organizer’s education platform includes tackling the district’s school funding model and providing free public transit rides and universal child care.
If elected Chicago mayor, Paul Vallas promises to open schools on nights and weekends, expand choice
Vallas’s education platform brings back some policies from his time as CEO of Chicago Public Schools. His platform proposes to expand charters, alternative schools, and work study programs. Vallas also wants to keep schools open on nights, weekends, holidays, and during summer to provide young people a safe place to go.
Chicago Public Schools will host the first of three public meetings at 6 p.m. Jan. 19. Residents are invited to weigh in on the plan to build a new high school on vacant land at 26th and State streets, where the Harold L. Ickes Homes once stood.
The migrants — single men and women who are mostly asylum seekers — are expected to move into the former school campus starting the week of Jan. 23. The campus, vacant since 2017, will be a shelter for up to two years, city officials said.
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