The nation’s report card was just released and shows Illinois students continue to struggle to meet proficiency standards in reading and math. State leaders are spinning 8th-grade results as a win, but in reality, they lag. Ignored are the struggles of younger students.
The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools entered the “fact finding” phase of negotiations in January 2025. Here’s what that means, whether Chicago students might be out of class, when and what it all could do to taxpayers.
The first nationwide school choice bill to pass out of committee in U.S. history was just reintroduced. But teachers unions, which killed Illinois’ school choice program in 2023, oppose giving families education options.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan collected a pension worth $158,000 in 2024 while facing a federal corruption trial in Chicago. Depending on the verdict, taxpayers could be on the hook for another $1 million to cover his remaining benefits.
Chicago residents reported 28,443 violent crimes during 2024. Attacks and threats were both up, with aggravated assaults hitting a 20-year high.
Rapid growth in government jobs during 2024 did little to fix the downward trajectory of union membership in Illinois. Just 13.1% of workers are union members in the state.
Illinois continues to maintain a sluggish job market and high unemployment. The December unemployment rate was third highest in the nation, where it has remained for months.
Illinois Policy Institute Center for Poverty Solutions, in partnership with the Archbridge Institute By Joshua Bandoch, Ph.D., head of policy, Illinois Policy Institute and Justin Callais, Ph.D., chief economist, Archbridge Institute EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A low-income person’s ability to move up in society is worse in Illinois than in any other Midwestern state, and 40th lowest...
Some Illinois school boards allow all resident children – including private and homeschooled kids – to participate in district activities. That should be the case for all taxpaying families in all districts.
Chicago’s 2020 Additional Dwelling Unit Ordinance, while well-intentioned, has stifled development. Despite 71% of Chicagoans being in favor of putting additional dwelling units on existing residential lots – higher than the national average – restrictive and inequitable regulations have ensured very few are built.1 Only 44% of pre-approved applications have received building permits since the...
Joseph Miscimarra is a proponent of additional dwelling units, such as coach houses and granny flats. He supports a Chicago City Council ordinance that would expand and improve a pilot program to again allow the units, but the proposal is currently stalled in committee. “In the spring of 2023, some friends from college told me...
Illinoisans would have the chance to recall state and local politicians under a proposal in Springfield.