Stories by Matt Masterson

The names of prospective district volunteers must now be run through sex offender registries and the statewide list of violent offenders before they can be hired.

A former federal prosecutor found CPS leaders failed to recognize the extent of the sex abuse issues that existed for years inside district schools.

As the high-profile murder case heads to trial in September, a look at key events in the months and years since Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shot Laquan McDonald.

The mother of slain teenager Laquan McDonald made a rare appearance in Cook County criminal court Thursday morning to testify before attorneys representing the Chicago police officer who shot and killed her son in 2014.

Because Jason Van Dyke’s attorneys claim he was justified in shooting teen Laquan McDonald, prosecutors may not refer to McDonald as a “victim.” However, they may refer to his death as a homicide.

If the mother of Laquan McDonald wants to attend the murder trial of the police officer who shot and killed her son, a judge said Tuesday, she will need to respond to a defense subpoena and show up to court this week.

Only 24 percent of Illinois kindergartners are ready for school, according to a new state survey. But that number drops even lower for minority, low-income and diverse learner students.

Two women allegedly stole tens of thousands of narcotic pills from a Wicker Park pharmacy over a two-year period and sold them off for profit.

The estate of Terrell Eason claims Chicago police officers used excessive force during a July 3 foot pursuit that led to the 33-year-old’s death.

Twenty public schools in Chicago will be part of a new pilot program aimed at connecting school communities with local after-school, health and family engagement services.

Attorneys for suspended Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke will be allowed to use computer-generated animations as defense evidence in next month’s murder trial.

District officials will hear from Near South Side community members this week about a proposal to expand the attendance boundary for the new high school CPS is planning to phase in at the National Teachers Academy.

After a daylong hearing featuring hours of expert testimony and competing surveys, it remains to be seen where the trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke will be held.

Protesters on the North Side of Chicago shut down all four lanes of Lake Shore Drive during rush hour Thursday to draw attention to gun violence in the city.

National Teachers Academy parents want a Cook County judge to step in and halt Chicago Public Schools’ plan to transform their elementary school into a high school.

A new judge won’t be brought on to decide whether the high-profile murder trial of a Chicago police officer will be moved out of Cook County despite a “novel” argument by defense attorneys.

Attorneys representing the family of 24-year-old Maurice Granton Jr. claim the June 6 fatal shooting was unjustified because Granton posed no “imminent threat” to law enforcement.

Defense attorneys claim the judge handling the high-profile murder case is “prejudiced” against their motion to move the trial outside Cook County and should recuse himself from deciding the matter.

Parents from a South Side high school are calling on CPS leaders to bring back their ousted principal, a month after an investigation revealed he had failed to safeguard students from abuse.

Chicago Public Schools is updating its teaching policy around the handwriting form to meet new state law requirements.

The Board of Education this week will vote on updates to its student code of conduct policy in an effort to promote equitable discipline practices throughout the school district.

Seeking “full transparency,” local activist William Calloway files a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department, pushing for the release of all unedited audio and video showing the fatal shooting Saturday of Harith Augustus.

Lawyers say victims of an October 2017 mass shooting have been “targeted twice” following multiple lawsuits filed this week by Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International.

Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke will stand trial Sept. 5 in the shooting death of teenager Laquan McDonald.

The district says it will spend $26 million to add 160 social workers and 94 special education case managers in schools across the city. 

Police officials waited less than 24 hours after a fatal shooting in the South Shore neighborhood to publish video footage of the incident involving 37-year-old Harith Augustus.