In its first meeting since Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett took administrative leave, members of the CPS Board of Education discussed the recent series of events causing further instability for the school district.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, is in town for the Education Writers Association National Seminar. Brandis Friedman has the latest. 

Chicago Public School has appointed Chicago Board of Education Vice President Jesse Ruiz as interim CPS CEO, replacing Barbara Byrd-Bennett who is taking a paid leave of absence amidst a federal investigation of a $20.5 million no-bid contract. What are the implications of this on CPS contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union? Carol Marin and her panel discuss the latest CPS news and the future of the district.

We share what you had to say about the federal investigation of Chicago Public Schools  in tonight's viewer feedback.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett has taken a leave of absence amidst a federal investigation into a no-bid contract awarded to a company that once employed her.

Gov. Bruce Rauner said this week that bankruptcy may be the best option for the Chicago Public Schools system to get its fiscal house in order. One day later, it was revealed that the federal government is investigating CPS. News reports say the investigation involves a no-bid contract for principal training awarded to a company that once employed CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett. We'll discuss the challenges facing CPS with a panel of experts.

Chicago Public Schools is under federal investigation, school board officials confirm. We have the latest details.

The documentary The Homestretch premieres Monday at 9:00 pm on WTTW11. It follows three homeless young people in Chicago as they struggle to graduate high school and navigate their future. That's followed by a Chicago Tonight special edition at 10:00 pm, where host Phil Ponce sat down with three of the documentary subjects to talk about where their lives have taken them since the events of the film, and he also spoke with the filmmakers who spearheaded the project.

Two U.S. Navy Culinary Specialists have spent their military careers cooking for hungry shipmates. But recently, they spent time in the relatively open kitchen space at the Union League Club of Chicago working with its Executive Chef, Michael Garbin. We follow them during a cooking session.

Erin McKean founded the world's biggest online dictionary, Wordnik. A graduate of The University of Chicago, she has also written books on weird words and given TED Talks about the subject. She joins us to talk about the latest word trends and linguistic gymnastics. Take a quiz on weird words.

The School Project is a Chicago-based documentary series that is tracking the past and present status of the city's public school system. The fourth episode  focuses on the battle over standardized testing.

Contract negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools have formally begun – and the union’s initial list of demands is not the traditional one. We have the details.

Robert Putnam -- Harvard professor, political scientist, and author of the acclaimed Bowling Alone -- is back with a new book that charts the decline of the American Dream in his hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio. Putnam joins us to discuss his new book: Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

Public schools nationally are at a crossroads, according to Joel Klein. After serving as chancellor of the New York City Department of Education for eight years, Klein took on unions, politicians, and the status quo to improve public education and give students and parents more choice. He joins us.

A video made by a group of young Chicago filmmakers is an official selection of the 2015 White House Student Film Festival. It was one of 15 selected from 1,500 entries and it will be honored at the White House on Friday.

Expulsions and out-of-school suspensions in Chicago Public Schools saw a drop in the 2013-2014 school year, but a recent study suggests troubled students are still vulnerable. We discuss school discipline with our panel.