Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter confirmed the union and school district have agreed to hold open bargaining sessions that will allow community stakeholders to attend negotiations for the first time.

With the latest action, the administration said it has canceled $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans through several programs.

Chicago’s school funding model is changing. Instead of basing school funding on student enrollment as the district has done for the past decade, Chicago Public Schools is now taking a needs-based approach.

SEIU Local 73 says it represents more than 11,000 CPS support staff, including special education classroom assistants, custodians, crossing guards, bus aides, security officers and parent workers. CPS and the union had been negotiating on a contract for a year.

Officers and workers in yellow vests cleared out tents and camping equipment at the student encampment, leaving behind yellow squares of dead or dying grass where the tents had stood. Front-loaders were being used to remove the camping equipment.

The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday awarded a six-year, $53 million contract to the ACT, Inc. organization, meaning high schoolers statewide will shift back to the ACT after taking SAT exams for most of the past decade.

Chicago Public Schools teachers and administrators aren’t shying away from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s claim the city’s schools are “owed” $1 billion from the state. But they dramatically scaled back their immediate demands during a rare joint CPS and Chicago Teachers Union lobbying trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday.

As Chicago Public Schools moves to fully remove police officers from its buildings, education officials are planning a phased-in approach to its new school safety plans.

While the number of Latinos enrolling in post-graduate degree programs has increased 81% since 2010, that group still only makes up 8% of all post-grad students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Illinois is preparing to dedicate an entire state agency to matters affecting children in their earliest years. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced in October his intent to move disparate services under the umbrella of a new state agency: the Department of Early Childhood.

CPS is anticipating a budget deficit of $391 million for the coming school year as COVID-19 relief funding runs out. That deficit is expected to rise to $700 million the following year.

Advocates say as many as 40,000 youths statewide could lose access to tutoring services, recreation and other extracurricular activities this summer unless Illinois lawmakers approve an infusion of funds to keep them going.

Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago early Tuesday morning as tension ratcheted up in standoffs with demonstrators at other college campuses across the U.S.

Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up at college campuses across the U.S. after being inspired by demonstrators at Columbia University. As May commencement ceremonies near, administrators face added pressure to clear protesters.

Officials from the union and Chicago Public Schools began talks this week as the sides work to secure the first new teachers contract since former CTU organizer and educator Brandon Johnson was elected mayor.

Protests began on the Evanston campus and at universities across the country in recent weeks amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.