An effort to streamline federal financial aid. How a three-time MLB All-Star is giving back to local kids. And restorative practices instead of suspensions — a look at the impact on students.

A study from the University of Chicago Education Lab showed using restorative practices led to an 18% reduction in suspensions, along with 35% fewer arrests at school and a 15% decrease in out-of-school arrests.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form is undergoing its first major overhaul since the Reagan era.

Exploring why so many Black women go missing in Chicago. And how educator vacancies are disproportionately impacting children of color.

“Most tragically, students of color and students from low-income households are dramatically more likely to be in districts with high vacancy levels, more than twice the vacancy rates than the rest of state,” said Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois.

Black people comprise about two-thirds of all reported missing persons cases in Chicago over the past two decades.

What local groups are doing to combat rising food insecurity. A push to enhance the Major Taylor Trail on the South Side. And the creator of the animated series “Young Love.”

The Avondale Restorative Justice Community Court program offers those charged with nonviolent offenses a chance to turn their lives around. Rather than serving time, people are given another option.

City Council approves the mayor’s $16.6 billion budget. We’re one on one with the city’s budget director. And Chicago has a pension problem — WTTW News explains.

Donors receive state income tax credits for their contributions to the Invest in Kids program, which helps some 9,600 students across Illinois attend private and trade schools. But barring last-minute legislative action, authorization for the program runs out at the end of 2023.

Students at private schools across Illinois are at risk of losing their scholarships. Why food insecurity is on the rise. And how the Grandyman is giving back to local kids.

According to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, one in five households in the Chicago area is facing food insecurity. A national report found that 17 million households were food insecure at some point in 2022.

Curtis “The Grandyman” Granderson spent 16 seasons playing Major League Baseball. Now he’s passing down those years of experience to the next generation of players and inspiring them to pursue college.

City Council blocks a vote to transform a vacant lot into a migrant shelter. Why it takes so long for wrongfully convicted people to get legal representation. And Cook County’s state’s attorney on the elimination of cash bail.

It’s been more than a month since Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail entirely. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office was preparing for almost 18 months before the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect.

More than 3,300 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989, according to the University of Michigan’s National Registry of Exonerations. That time on the inside adds up to more than 30,000 years unjustly spent in prison for many of those people.