Just three of the nearly 50 school buildings closed by Chicago Public Schools last year are now occupied again, though CPS says charter schools could move into the closed buildings if the community approves. Elizabeth Brackett has the story. Read an article.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern University football players are employees and can unionize. Sports attorney and IIT Chicago-Kent adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham joins us to talk about the NLRB ruling. Read an interview with Chicago Sun-Times Sports Columnist and former Northwestern University football player Rick Telander about the ruling.

Joel Weisman and his panel of journalists tackle education topics: the ISAT controversy, and why some teachers refused to administer the state-mandated test; the national spotlight shining on Fenger principal Elizabeth Dozier in Chicagoland; and the role Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education policy could play in the next mayoral election. Watch the web extra video.

The majority of Chicago Public Schools students in 3rd-8th grade are taking the ISAT test this week, though parent groups who oppose the test say the number of students who have opted out of the test continues to rise. Elizabeth Brackett reports. Watch a web extra video interview with Sarah Chambers, a teacher at Saucedo Scholastic Academy.

New research shows that the combination of mentoring and intensive tutoring can make up for three years' worth of lost learning for 9th and 10th grade boys who were previously at risk of dropping out down the road. Brandis Friedman has the story. Read an article and watch a web extra video.

The ISAT test is scheduled to begin next week, but some Chicago Public School teachers are refusing to administer the statewide tests. Elizabeth Brackett has the story. Read an article.

Northern Illinois University President Douglas Baker discusses rising tuition costs, what universities of the future will look like, and his new position as the university’s president. View a graphic on local universities' rising costs.

A National Labor Relations Board hearing is underway to determine whether or not Northwestern University's football team can form a union. Eddie Arruza has the latest developments from today's hearing.

UIC professors cancel classes and take to the picket lines. Paris Schutz has more on what they hope a strike will accomplish.

We share what some of you had to say about a potential faculty strike at the University of Illinois at Chicago when we read some of your viewer feedback.

The University of Illinois at Chicago’s faculty union says it is set to strike February 18-19 if a bargain cannot be reached between union negotiators and school administration. We talk with union president Joe Persky and Chicago Tribune reporter Jodi S. Cohen about the matter, and what can be expected in the coming weeks. Read an interview.

We chat with Dean Everette Dennis about Northwestern University’s Qatar campus, and the communications hub in Doha that is forging a new path for journalists in the Middle East. Read an interview.

We talk with Kiran Bir Sethi from Ahmedabad, India who is changing the formula for childhood education on a global scale and is this year’s Patricia Blunt Koldyke Fellow in Entrepreneurship. Read an article.

It's day two of the latest polar blast. How are parents grappling with Chicago Public School closures with no other options for supervising their children? Paris Schutz has the story. Send us your severe weather photos here and we'll use them in our online slideshow.

The Chicago School Board approved seven new charter schools for the city. Where are they located in comparison with the neighborhood schools that were closed down? View a map of charter vs. neighborhood schools.

The Chicago School Board voted Wednesday to approve seven new charter schools in the city. Many parents, as well as the Chicago Teachers Union, have said they will protest any expansion following the closing last year of 50 neighborhood schools. We have the latest on the vote and reaction to it. View a graphic and a map on the new proposed charter schools.