Illinois
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Teachers Wanted: A Nationwide Staffing Crisis Impacts Illinois
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The teacher shortage is a crisis unfolding at the district, state and federal levels, worsening student learning and threatening the stability of schools– with no end in sight. In Illinois, 5,300 classroom positions went unfilled in 2022, the highest percentage of unfilled positions on record. Reporting midway through the 2023-2024…
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Cat Declaw Bans Help Both Cats and Veterinarians
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Niki Gianni, DVM is the veterinarian at Ravenswood Animal Hospital LLC in Chicago, IL. She is a 2019 graduate of the University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine. Crystal Heath, DVM is a shelter veterinarian, the Executive Director of the non-profit veterinary support organization Our Honor and a 2012 graduate…
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Will Illinois’ New Assault Weapons Ban Reduce Gun Violence?
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Six months after a gunman legally purchased a semiautomatic rifle and killed seven people in Highland Park, a northern Chicago suburb, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law, banning the sale and delivery of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches. Cook County enacted similar legislation…
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Illinois Voters Approve a Constitutional Right to Organize
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Illinois voters have spoken: 2022 was the year of the organized worker. Adding to a mountain of evidence that workplace issues are on Americans’ minds, the 2022 general election saw the passage of a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing workers the right to organize and collectively bargain with their employers over…
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How Chicago Successfully Reversed Opioid Trends
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After a century of increasing life expectancy in the United States, 2020 witnessed a decline of 1.5 years. Although primarily attributable to COVID-19, the pandemic only exacerbated the persistent health crises of the “before-times,” further contributing to the decline. In particular, the opioid epidemic, which continues to ravage the country,…
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Better School Outcomes Aren’t Free
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A new analysis demonstrates that funding increases make a huge difference in schooling outcomes, especially for students from low-income families.
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Good Neighbors: Addressing Race in Public Housing Integration
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New research shows that perceived racial conflict is hindering the ability of black, public housing residents to integrate into predominantly white neighborhoods, an issue that the City of Chicago is doing nothing to address.
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The Nip and Tuck of the Illinois Budget: Cuts to Children and Families
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Budget cuts to the Child Care Assistance Program continue to wreak havoc on the children and families of Illinois.
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Countdown to Election: Quinn v Rauner, who’s telling the truth about Illinois’ economy?
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“Illinois has added 257,000 private sector jobs.” This is what voters see when they look at Governor Quinn’s evaluation of job growth under his administration, but if they scroll over to Bruce Rauner’s Bring Back Blueprint, they will see “Illinois lost 26,000 private sector jobs.” In politics it is generally…
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Flipping the Script on What Causes City Green Initiatives
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Researchers find new data that contradict their previously held belief that cities push for community-wide green sustainability programs for their cost-saving benefits.
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IOU: Does Democracy Always Deliver for Taxpayers?
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A study of elected versus appointed treasurers finds that cities could save millions of dollars annually by entrusting their finances to bureaucrats.