Class is in session for what could be a hectic year at Chicago Public Schools, which may face layoffs in the middle of the school year if state lawmakers don’t come through with $480 million. On top of that, district officials are negotiating a new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union. CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey gives us an update on contract negotiations and the likelihood of a teachers strike. 

Chicago Tonight has learned that the new head of the Chicago Public Schools, Forrest Claypool, sends his child to Francis W. Parker, an exclusive, private school in Lincoln Park.

Hundreds of thousands of Chicago Public Schools students return to the classroom amid massive financial woes for the district: an expired teacher contract and a $480 million budget hole. On Chicago Tonight, we'll hear from students and principals at some schools experiencing the deepest cuts, and from CPS administrators visiting schools on their first day. 

Using your words may be the secret to bridging the achievement gap for kids from different economic backgrounds. Find out about the Thirty Million Words Initiative.

The fight to reopen a South Side high school has caused 12 parents and activists to go on a hunger strike to get Chicago Public Schools to hear their concerns. We look at the history of the closure and what the new proposals are.

Awarding-winning Chicago Tribune columnist Dawn Turner is back in town after spending a year at Harvard University for the prestigious Nieman Fellowship. Turner joins Chicago Tonight on Thursday to discuss what she learned during her time away.

The Chicago Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously today to pass a much-criticized $5.6 billion budget that includes almost $480 million from the state, $1 billion dollars in borrowing, and what teachers and parents are calling massive cuts to special education. Brandis Friedman joins us tonight with the latest from downtown.

A plan to provide nearly $500 million in relief to the cash-starved CPS is locked up in an ideological battle over collective bargaining. Paris Schutz joins us with more on the story.

The National Labor Relations Board on Monday announced that Northwestern University’s scholarship football athletes would not be allowed to form a union, despite a 2014 NLRB ruling that states the players are university employees. Joining us to discuss the details of the NLRB decision is Eldon Ham, a Chicago-Kent College of Law professor and sports legal analyst for WSCR 670 The Score.

The National Labor Relations Board has overturned its historic March 2014 decision to treat Northwestern University scholarship football student-athletes as employees, and ruled on Monday that the players will not be allowed to form a union.

A new proposal from state lawmakers to help out Chicago Public Schools with a $200 million windfall, as the CEO announces an end to the pension pickup for non-union employees. Paris Schutz explains.

CPS on Monday unveiled a $5.7 billion operating budget that calls for more than 400 teacher layoffs and banks on $480 million in state aid. Tonight, we'll discuss the district's budget proposal and ongoing teacher contract negotiations with Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis.

Chicago Public Schools unveiled Monday a $5.7 billion operating budget proposal that includes laying off 1,491 employees (479 of which are teachers), raising property taxes by $19 million, and banking on $480 million in pension relief from state lawmakers. Chicago Tonight’s Brandis Friedman walks us through the proposal.

The University of Illinois was the focus of two front-page stories in Sunday's Chicago Tribune, concerning their ranking as the nation's No. 1 party school, a judge's decision last week to allow an academic freedom lawsuit against the university, and failure to turn over private emails about university business. We'll discuss those stories and Chancellor Phyllis Wise's resignation last Thursday with our panel.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Friday that the Chicago Public Schools’ latest contract move could force teachers into another strike.

We discuss the CPS budget and other challenges facing the nation's third-largest school district with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new leadership team: CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and chief education officer Janice Jackson.