Stories by Matt Masterson

In its initial feedback on the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act proposal, the U.S. Department of Education has raised concerns over how the plan deals with graduation rates and tracks English-language learner progress.

As Gov. Bruce Rauner’s supporters rally Wednesday for “Governor’s Day” at the Illinois State Fair, representatives will be returning to the capitol to take an ax to his vision for education funding.

More trouble for the Cook County sweetened beverage tax.

Watch the Aug. 15, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

A look at domestic terrorism and hate groups following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend.

Most women in U.S. prisons and jails lack access to birth control. But for many of these women, incarceration is not the only obstacle to such care. A new program in Chicago is trying to change the trend.

There’s a new floating attraction along Chicago’s Riverwalk. We go for a look.

For years, critical care doctors have noticed an increase in patients suffering from opioid overdoses. A new study confirms their observations and details the staggering cost of treatment.

Chicago Public Schools has five hearings scheduled on various aspects of its latest spending plan this month, beginning Monday with meetings on its capital budget. Get complete details.

A day after the Illinois Senate killed his vision for a new method of funding Illinois schools, Gov. Bruce Rauner kept up hopes that legislators will come around to his way of thinking.

The violent confrontation between white supremacists groups and protesters has sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation. How some local politicians are responding.

Watch the Aug. 14, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

The city of Chicago will need to come up with an additional $269 million to help Chicago Public Schools make it through the year, according to the schools’ new budget. Where will this additional city money come from?

Illinois parents faced with the expulsion of a preschool-age child are often put in a difficult situation, but a new state law seeks to end that practice and get schools thinking about alternative solutions.

Illinois will become the first state to ban the use of elephants in circuses and other traveling exhibitions, putting an official end to a practice that animal rights activists have been protesting for decades.

“A lot of women said it sets an unrealistic standard when they see Beyoncé in a magazine and she looks fantastic,” said researcher Toni Liechty. “If those are the images you’re seeing, you think that it’s common.”

“This law sends a message to survivors of felony child sex crimes that it is not too late to come forward,” said Polly Poskin, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in a statement.

Governor Bruce Rauner’s attempt to put his stamp on school funding met its demise Sunday, when a single Republican senator joined with the chamber’s 37 Democrats to reject Rauner’s rewrite of a significant school funding measure.

The governor’s sit-down with WTTW will come a day after the Illinois Senate is scheduled to vote on his amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1—a plan that rewrites how Illinois decides how to divvy up state funding for schools. 

Illinois blows the deadline for payments to public schools. Mayor Rahm Emanuel sues the Trump administration. Lawsuits fly over Cook County’s soda tax. And Mitch Trubisky shines in the Bears first preseason game.

The zoo’s newest residents are being hand-reared by keepers, and scientists will analyze their genetics as part of an international species survival plan.

To honor the first women of Chicago’s City Council, we mix smoky mezcal and bright grapefruit juice. It’s sweet but not too sweet, sharp but never bitter, and tough enough to duke it out with the best (or worst) of ‘em. 

Chicago Public Schools on Friday finally issued the framework of its operating budget for the 2017-18 school year, but the source of some of its revenue remains unclear.

At a rally Thursday, the Democratic candidate for governor introduced his pick for lieutenant governor. “We need real solutions, and that is what J.B. and I will provide,” state Rep. Juliana Stratton said.

Watch the Aug. 10, 2017 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."

It’s been a bountiful season for Chicago’s urban gardeners. Jeanne Nolan, The Organic Gardener, joins us with an update from our very own organic garden.