Schools & Education

Illinois public universities gave away a record $13.5 million last year in free tuition to more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students through a controversial legislative scholarship program, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s annual tuition and fee waivers report. The 164 members of the Illinois General Assembly who participate in the program...
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With the Illinois state budget deep in the red, it’s not just schools that are feeling the pinch – before- and after-school programs are in peril as well, educators say. Illinois has reduced funding for early childhood education, including before- and after-school programs, by 10 percent, said a spokesman for state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago),...
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Instead of toting her backpack to school on Friday mornings, high school sophomore Kyara Lee strays from her usual schedule to venture outside the classroom. For one day each week, she sets aside her school books to work alongside investment professionals. Lee remembers her first day of work last September, being nervous as she took...
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Local school councils are out, Renaissance 2010 is in, and the fight against the machine has only begun. Activists and experts have taken a stand to bring back public schools and public involvement in education; they said they are fighting for their voice. Pauline Lipman, policy studies professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago,...
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Chicago’s Josephinum Academy is teaming up with resident troupe Polarity Ensemble Theatre to present the world premiere of Chuck Palia’s "The Society of Adventurous Women," directed by David Fehr. "Society" will feature a mostly female cast of students portraying notorious women of history, at a bar in the Netherworld. They may not buy drinks,...
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Sharon Morgan sits at her desk surrounded by piles of paperwork and a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. As she shuffles through the paperwork, she marks her calendar on the day where she plans to speak to her 7th and 8th grade students about completing applications for the best high schools in the city. With...
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Local officials in Austin say if Chicago Public School leaders don’t create more high school seats in the West Side neighborhood, more youth will end up in the streets of Chicago’s toughest areas. But CPS officials say Austin residents will have to be content with their three Renaissance 2010 high schools. Austin High School, the...
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Chicago Public School officials announced a new admission plan to maintain diversity by using socio-economic status versus race factors for selective enrollment and magnet schools Selective enrollment schools, some of the brightest jewels of Chicago’s public school system, are undergoing major changes that will affect the way students are admitted to coveted spots in the...
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Every morning, 16-year-old Justice McKinnley wakes up to the harsh reality that her father is not there; her father is in prison. She’s dealt with this for four years now, and her dad’s not due home until 2013. “Every single day it hurts that I won’t see my daddy,” said McKinnley. “Since my daddy got...
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Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) plans to reform or possibly abolish the General Assembly scholarship program when the legislature returns to Springfield in January. “We don’t know what those reforms could be. It could be anything from streamlining the process, creating a uniform process, or it could be complete abolishment. But we’re not going...
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