Stories by Matt Masterson

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin visited with education and community stakeholders Monday afternoon at Burroughs Elementary in Brighton Park to pledge his support for federal after-school funding that’s facing the ax in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget.

With the immediate future of new charter school openings in Chicago already up in the air, a new study now suggests halting charter growth in the city to avoid saturating low-demand neighborhoods with too many schools.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos met in the nation’s capital for a “wide ranging” discussion Wednesday morning that centered on the road ahead for Chicago education.

When will Chicago Public Schools hold its last day of class? There could be clarity next week, when a Cook County judge rules on a pair of motions in the district’s ongoing suit against Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Chicago's mayor and the U.S. education secretary have a 10:30 a.m. meeting scheduled Wednesday morning. But the location and content of their talk is not yet known.

In a sentencing memo filed Friday, Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s attorneys admit she “harbored a very real and greedy sense of entitlement” that she was earning something she deserved by steering millions of dollars in CPS contracts to her former employer.

Noble teachers announced Friday they have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, citing administration's “use of surveillance” to interfere with their rights granted by the National Labor Relations Act.

The Chicago Teachers Union will not hold a May Day strike, but group leadership is planning a “proportional” response to whatever cuts are made to the end of this school year by Chicago Public Schools.

Dozens of charter school advocates and parents gathered outside Will Guzzardi’s Logan Square office Wednesday to protest a bill from the state representative that would limit charter growth in financially struggling Illinois school districts.

After dozens of listening sessions and meetings, the Illinois State Board of Education announced it has submitted its plan to replace the No Child Left Behind Act to the federal government for review.

Six Chicago Public Schools will take part in a new pilot program that lets students move at their own pace as they focus on mastering educational skills rather than spending set amounts of time in the classroom.

Students, teachers and community activists gathered Friday at Henderson Elementary for their second annual peace rally, marching only feet from where a 12-year-old girl was shot earlier this year.

The “New Chance: Arts and Literature” fund will provide Chicago students with new supplies beginning next school year, having already raised $1.2 million through philanthropic donations in just the last month.

As the Chicago Teachers Union continues debate over a possible one-day strike in response to furloughs and cuts from Chicago Public Schools, some members have come out in favor of other options that wouldn't cost teachers another day of lost pay.

The owners of tens of thousands of homes and properties in Cook County who’ve fallen behind on their taxes have only a couple more days to settle their debts – or they could wind up paying a lot more.

“If your district is broke, take care of the schools that you have before you open new schools. We think it’s a pretty straightforward idea,” said state Rep. Will Guzzardi, who introduced the legislation.

Facing an ongoing lawsuit brought by Chicago Public Schools and increasing calls to restore vetoed funding to the cash-strapped school district, Gov. Bruce Rauner is urging “swift action” to enact statewide pension reform in a new Republican-led bill.

The former SUPES Academy chief charged in connection with the Barbara Byrd-Bennett fraud scandal was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison after pleading guilty last year.

Local School Council members from across Chicago hand-delivered a letter to Gov. Bruce Rauner this week, urging “immediate action” from the state.

Chicago Teachers Union delegates are taking this month to discuss the possible May 1 strike with the union’s rank-and-file members before a vote on the action, scheduled for April 5.

Nearly 150 years after a small barn fire ballooned into a two-day blaze that engulfed the city, the story of the Great Chicago Fire is being retold. On social media.

Chicago Public Schools is seeking to prevent a proposed teacher strike later this spring, claiming the move would be illegal under state law.

As Chicago Public Schools continues seeking cost-cutting measures to balance its annual budget, local teachers are rallying around school staff they believe could be next on the chopping block.

The latest draft of what will become Illinois' new public education policy plan cleared its first major hurdle Wednesday, earning unanimous support from state education leaders.

CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and the Board of Education are both named in a civil suit filed Friday by Access Living, a disability advocacy nonprofit, on behalf of the wheelchair-bound student at Drummond Montessori Magnet School in Bucktown.

Had ASPIRA teachers gone through with their threat to go on strike March 17, it would have been the first labor stoppage for charter teachers in U.S. history.