How It Works: Chicago’s City Council And The Mayor’s Office
We break down why the mayor has so much power, why aldermen get the last say in their wards and how that affects what happens in the city.

We’re investigating how city government, community investment, public safety and schools work — or don’t work — in Chicago, and looking for your ideas to improve those systems.
We break down why the mayor has so much power, why aldermen get the last say in their wards and how that affects what happens in the city.
Aldermen currently draw the ward map — resulting in weird shapes critics say empower politicians, not the people. One group is trying to change that.
Millennium Park, Lincoln Yards and INVEST South/West are three signature projects from Daley, Emanuel and Lightfoot. But what’s really going on?
Mayor Lightfoot’s 2022 budget includes $31.5 million for a one-year cash assistance pilot. If approved next week, the city’s program would be the largest of its kind in the country.
Education innovator says “hacking” the western education system is the only hope for transforming schools.
One expert says entrenched interests like teachers unions block effective school reform.
A national teachers campaign argues that Black history curriculum in schools will stop the school-to-prison pipeline.
How can we reimagine Chicago’s education system to better serve young people?
Two experts explain what police reform looks like within the Chicago Police Department — and why some reforms are harder than others to get done.
Reset examines what public safety would look like if more non-criminal 911 calls were diverted to crisis responders and not police.
Nationally, police have shot and killed about 950 people in the past year. How does that compare with other countries?
Reset talks to Radley Balko, the author of “Rise Of The Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces.“
Ameya Pawar helps us wrap up our series on how community investment and economic development could work better in Chicago.
Calls for reform and even defunding Chicago Police have grown louder in recent years. But the pressure on the department to change is nothing new.