Stories by Matt Masterson

CPS has been criticized in recent days for not telling students and families that it changed the way positive cases among students and staff are reported on its online dashboard.

Under a new statewide compromise, public school and higher ed employees across Illinois won’t have to expend their sick time if they are forced to miss work due to COVID-19 — as long as they’re fully vaccinated.

Melissa Ortega, a third-grade student at Emiliano Zapata Academy in Little Village, died Saturday after she was shot in the head by a suspect who Chicago police say was aiming at a 26-year-old man.

“There are likely people here who liked it the way things were and who will push back and use media, become sources to create a lot of dysfunction,” Superintendent David Brown said. “We’re gonna push back, we’re gonna be the adults in the room.”

Rhysheen Wilson, 27, was ordered held on $2 million during a bond hearing Thursday following his arrest on charges of attempted murder of a peace officer, aggravated discharge of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

According to Chicago police, the incident began just after 5 a.m. Thursday in the 5600 block of North Sacramento Avenue.

Judge William Raines has been placed on “restricted duties or duties other than judicial duties” and must receive sensitivity training and gender bias counseling, according to an order from Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

More than 14,000 students and staff within Chicago Public Schools are currently either quarantining or in isolation due to COVID-19, but the district will soon be shortening the amount of time those people need to stay home from school.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday, defense attorney Richard Kling claimed that supervised release would be a “sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary” penalty for the former Chicago alderperson.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 38 people were shot in 32 separate incidents between Friday at 6 p.m. and Monday at 11:59 p.m.

Navient, the second largest student loan servicer in the U.S., agreed Thursday to cancel $1.7 billion in debt owed by more than 66,000 borrowers across the country as part of a multistate lawsuit that accused the company of abusive lending practices.

Rank-and-file CTU members on Wednesday signed off on the deal, two days after the union’s elected delegates voted to suspend a labor action that saw the vast majority of teachers refusing to work in person amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

A probationary Chicago police officer who was off duty shot three people at a suburban bowling alley Tuesday night, according to the agency that investigates police shootings.

Chicago students are set to return to their classrooms this week after several days at home as the city and Chicago Teachers Union have reached a compromise on new COVID-19 mitigations inside schools.

“Although we have been negotiating hard throughout the day, there has not been sufficient progress for us to predict a return to class tomorrow,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted Sunday.

The Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday sent a new proposal to the city hoping to resolve its ongoing labor action in which its members have refused to work in schools in-person during a spike in COVID-19 cases

In the lawsuit, parents claim the union’s action is actually an “illegal strike” — language that’s also been used by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. They want a judge to order teachers to return to their schools and resume in-person learning.

While a few school buildings may be open to students, Chicago Public Schools has once again canceled classes as negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union continue. 

Chicago Public Schools students will stay at home for a second consecutive day Thursday, as the district has once again canceled classes after the Chicago Teachers Union voted to begin working remotely.

The Chicago Teachers Union announced late Tuesday that its rank-and-file members voted in favor of a measure to halt in-person work and transition to remote work Wednesday as it continues negotiating a deal with the city and school district over additional health and safety measures.

The Chicago Teachers Union is set to vote Tuesday evening on a labor action that would see its 25,000 members work fully remotely beginning Wednesday. If that measure is approved, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said he’ll have no choice but to cancel classes.

Charter schools taking tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary loans, security workers cutting hours to apply for enhanced public benefits and bus companies who pocketed payments while laying off employees were among the issues highlighted in a new report.

“I am so pissed off that we have to continuously fight for the basic necessities, the basic mitigations … this makes no sense,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said Monday.

“By getting tested before returning from break, we can have a successful and healthy start to the new year,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said in a statement.

The National Weather Service on Tuesday said that as of 12:10 p.m., one-tenth of an inch of snow had been recorded at O’Hare Airport — Chicago’s official weather site — making the first measurable snowfall in 287 days.

According to the Chicago Police Department, there were 16 shootings across the city between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.