Illinois School Funding

Recovery in Sight? Not for Schools

Tom Vander Ark | Posted 09.22.2009 | Politics


Tom Vander Ark

With staggering unemployment in low income and minority communities, trouble expanding access to health care, and school funding likely to be lousy for years to come, it's a tough time to be an urban kid in America.

School Funding Discrimination Lawsuit Advances

Catalyst Chicago | John Myers | Posted 05.18.2009 | Chicago


Education advocates are savoring their first victory in a legal case challenging Illinois' school funding system and say the win comes at a critical j...

Meeks Leads 1,500 In School Funding Protest At Wrigley

Posted 11.02.2008 | Chicago


The rev. and state Sen. James Meeks led nearly 1,500 protesters outside Wrigley Field Tuesday night in a bid to draw national attention to his ongoing...

Meeks Scaling Back Cubs Playoff Protest

Posted 11.01.2008 | Chicago


Hundreds of people will gather around Wrigley Field during Wednesday's playoff game to protest school funding inequities, but they will not ring the s...

Don't Believe School Funding is a Problem? Read This.

Lorraine Forte | Posted 10.20.2008 | Chicago


Lorraine Forte

The data is shocking: If the students who enrolled in kindergarten in Chicago Public Schools in 1994 had, instead, enrolled in top-spending Lake Forest-Libertyville schools, they would have reaped the benefit of an extra $36 billion-worth of education by the time they graduated.

Duncan Urges Income Tax Hike For Schools

Chi Town Daily News | Paul D. Bowker | Posted 10.20.2008 | Chicago


Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan told state legislators yesterday that a "modest income tax hike" should be considered so that school funding ...

Meeks Taking School Protest To Wrigley

Chicago Sun-Times | Rosalind Rossi | Posted 10.20.2008 | Chicago


Six thousand protesters, wearing bright orange T-shirts, could ring Wrigley Field during the first Chicago Cubs playoff game, under a plan by state Se...

Summary of the Proposed Lease of the State Lottery

Greg Harris | Posted 10.17.2008 | Chicago


Greg Harris

I have had a number of inquiries about the details of the proposal to lease the State Lottery, so here we go with an explanation of SB2595, the version of the lottery lease proposal passed by the House.

Meeks Meeting With Blagojevich

Chicago Tribune | Monique Garcia | Posted 10.16.2008 | Chicago


State Sen. James Meeks is scheduled to meet with Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday to discuss school funding, but don't expect a policy breakthrough from...

What Boycott? CPS Claims Record Attendance

Posted 10.06.2008 | Chicago


Chicago Public Schools officials claimed first-day attendance was record high, despite the two day boycott led by the rev. and state Sen. James Meeks....

Tinkering Around the Edges Not Enough For Failing Schools

Lorraine Forte | Posted 10.05.2008 | Chicago


Lorraine Forte

While media eyes have been focused on Meeks' school boycott, another plan from the legislator/mega-church pastor has gotten little publicity: His proposal to allow kids to enroll in any school in the state, without paying tuition.

Meeks, Black Children and a New Trier Education

Dan Johnson-Weinberger | Posted 10.03.2008 | Chicago


Dan Johnson-Weinberger

Don't tell me that we can't find a way to provide the children of Sen. Meeks' community with the resources and accountability and culture of academic achievement that we already provide the children of Winnetka.

The School Funding Gap

Chicago Reporter | Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Alden K. Loury and Matthew Hendrickson | Posted 09.21.2008 | Chicago


A new Chicago Reporter analysis of school funding data shows the long-term disparities in school funding as area civil rights leaders filed a lawsuit ...

School Funding Unconstitutional: Lawsuit

AP | Jenny Song | Posted 09.20.2008 | Chicago


Using property tax revenue to fund Illinois schools is unconstitutional and discriminatory, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Chicago Urba...