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Latest Chicago news
Preliminary data analyzed by Chalkbeat shows just over 322,000 students were enrolled as of the 20th day of school, when the district takes an official count. The stable number comes after a decade of dramatic annual declines.
School-level data from the 2023 Illinois Assessment for Readiness shows many schools have not returned to pre-pandemic levels of students meeting standards in reading and math.
Some principals say the program is paying off and want to find funding to keep it going.
Chicago’s office that manages special education hasn’t had a chief since June. Now the board of education is searching for the next department head and asking the public for its input on who the next chief should be.
Shipments of the new COVID vaccine are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and should be “plentiful” by early October, public health officials said this week.
Families use the application for entry to a variety of schools, including selective test-in schools and neighborhood schools outside of their attendance boundaries.
Illinois Action for Children’s report on child care in Cook County found that federal emergency relief funds allowed many providers to keep their doors open. However, families still face barriers to get affordable care.
The shift raises questions about who schools are serving, how they should be resourced, and what the district — and the city — can do as it continues to lose students.
The inspector general found they fraudulently got federal loans during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Parent Mentor Program started in Chicago in 1995. After 28 years, the program has expanded to over 2,000 parents at almost 230 schools around the state. On Friday, the program kicked off the new school year welcoming parent mentors back to the classroom at a celebration at Harry S. Truman Community College.
Illinois lawmakers and school officials want the state to increase funding for school meals to provide meals for all students regardless of income.
Officials say the change was an attempt to address pay inequities.
Jianan Shi describes himself as “an immigrant that’s fallen in love with Chicago.” Here’s why he feels “the urgency of this work,” and what he plans to do about it.
Blaming a driver shortage, the district decided this year to limit bus transportation to students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness.
Families of transgender youth are moving to Illinois, where state law protects gender-affirming medical care and encourages inclusive school policies.
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