The pact asks the schools to accept the government’s priorities on admissions, women’s sports, free speech, student discipline and college affordability, among other topics.

After back-to-back years of enrollment growth for the first time in more than a decade, Chicago Public Schools on Thursday announced it has seen a drop in its number of students for the new academic year.

Interim CPS CEO Macquline King on Thursday stood by the district’s commitment to its existing policies after the Department of Education threatened to withhold millions in funding.

Public school enrollment is projected to tumble 5.5% between 2022 and 2031, largely due to changing demographics, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Other factors include the shift by some students to private education or homeschooling and some immigrant families’ decisions to leave the country.

The Illinois State Board of Education next month will begin hosting listening sessions around the state on the first draft of its Comprehensive Numeracy Plan, which the board said will provide guidance that supports educators, schools and districts in advancing student success in math.

The University of Chicago ranked sixth in the nation, jumping up five spots from eleventh last year, while the Evanston-based Northwestern University fell one spot into a tie for seventh.

The U.S. Department of Education is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to universities serving predominantly students of color — known as minority-serving institutions.

Federal education authorities have threatened to withhold grant money from Chicago Public Schools unless the district agrees to do away with its Black Student Success Plan and revises policies regarding transgender students.

The Evanston university on Tuesday announced that Bienen will begin serving as its interim president beginning Sept. 16.

Chicago Public Schools says it does not intend to offer a remote learning option to students amid a possible deployment of National Guard troops, immigration strike teams or other armed military personnel into the city.

Northwestern President Michael Schill, who has led the Evanston university amid periods of turmoil that included student protests, a widespread hazing scandal within the athletic department and federal funding cuts that forced layoffs, has announced he is stepping down.

The Chicago Board of Education on Thursday voted to approve the settlement with the school’s former interim principal John Thuet and assistant principal Michelle Brumfield.

The board voted 12-7, with one abstention, late Thursday following a contentious debate between board members who were split on how best to fund city schools while keeping costly cuts out of the classroom.

CPS officials have laid out a plan that aims to fill a $734 million budget gap. But there’s still debate over whether a loan should be a part of the final plan — and whether the district should take on a $175 million pension payment.

Chicago Public Schools is set to finalize its fiscal year 2026 budget this week, but questions remain about how the cash-strapped school district intends to plug a $734 million shortfall.

Former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald and his attorneys announced the “satisfactory settlement” Thursday, though terms of the agreement were not immediately known.