Weeks after ratifying a new labor agreement, rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Unions this week will be voting once again, this time to decide on their leadership for the next three years.

The Chicago Transit Authority board of directors saw a highly unusual heated exchange at its monthly meeting, with Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) warning directors not to be a “backbiting snake” and oppose Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the transit agency president.

Starting in July, about 3,000 early childhood professionals at 86 early childhood care and education agencies funded by the city will see a cost-per-child increase in their salaries, averaging to a 5-10% increase in wages, according to city officials.

Despite Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s trademark optimism, the unrelenting turmoil of the past two years, and his missteps in handling problems both new and old, has weakened his political standing, ensuring that if he runs for and wins a second term in office in 2027, he will have to do it the same way he won the first time: as an underdog.

Thirty members of the City Council signed a letter this week urging the board to stand by a resolution it passed less than two months ago requiring that the CPS CEO hold a licensed superintendent credential.

The Chicago Transit Board took no action on the potential appointment of a new agency president at a hastily scheduled special board meeting Thursday afternoon, despite widespread concern the meeting would see directors consider Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reported pick for the role.

Chicago faces an affordable housing shortfall of more than 119,000 units, and more than half of Chicagoans spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities, making them burdened by housing costs.

“I won’t rush to judgment, but I will say this as the chief executive of this city: Constitutional policing ensures that our public employees are adhering to a standard that reflects our values. If you don’t do that, you won’t have a place in the city government,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday.

The 20 homicides recorded throughout the city last month were the fewest for any month in Chicago since February 2015 while marking the fewest for any April since 1962.

If lawmakers don’t reach a deal to reform the northeastern Illinois transit system and introduce new funding before their May 31 adjournment, transit officials say it will result in significant cuts, which would result in a “nightmare scenario,” according to Regional Transportation Authority spokesperson Tina Fassett Smith.

A proposal to allow Chicago Police Department officials to impose a curfew anywhere in the city with just 30 minutes notice is set to face a key test Wednesday amid growing concern the measure is unworkable and unconstitutional.

The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge William Orrick does not apply to Chicago or Cook County but is likely to bolster efforts by city officials to prevent President Donald Trump from blowing a $3 billion hole in Chicago’s budget.

The 40-member task force will be charged with developing “Chicago’s first comprehensive reparations study, a critical step forward in acknowledging, addressing and repairing generations of harm experienced by Black communities,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

The task force, formed in February, has met twice, and the next meeting is set for Wednesday, Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood said.

“The Emanuel administration had immense disdain for public education, particularly for Black, Brown and poor children, and he was vocal about it,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “And now he is prancing around this country, asking people to reconsider him. It is not just frustrating. It is beyond offensive.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday sounded the alarm about the financial crisis facing the city, warning that Chicago “will have to do more with less” as President Donald Trump threatens to upend its finances and officials confront the results of decades of financial mismanagement.