Johnson, Vallas exchange jabs over schooling, budget plans at heated mayoral forum
The candidates were also asked whether they agree the runoff race represents a battle between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Fraternal Order of the Police.
Education
With the largest education reporting team in Illinois, WBEZ Education covers the issues that matter to students, parents, educators, as well as the general public. Our coverage includes Chicago Public Schools, other city schools, youth culture, suburban schools, state education issues and higher education.
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Chicago’s mayoral candidates have radically different approaches to fixing public schools. Here’s why.
Paul Vallas is a technocrat devoted to school choice. Brandon Johnson is a teachers union organizer. Their backgrounds explain their clashing views.
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Pandemic learning loss, staff shortages are top challenges for Illinois’ new education leader
Supt. Tony Sanders sees an “ever-widening gap between the left and the right … I think public education is squarely in the middle of that fight.”
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Illinois educators try to tackle pandemic learning loss with high-impact tutoring
One educator compared the learning disruption caused by the pandemic to water freezing in cracked pavement, deepening the divide.
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Un programa de Illinois para salvar las vidas de menores con tendencias suicidas es, para muchos, un camino a ninguna parte
Una investigación de WBEZ encontró que la solución del estado se está debilitando ante la creciente demanda de servicios de salud mental, especialmente entre menores de familias de bajos ingresos.
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Conservative groups back candidates as school board races become ideological battlegrounds
Conservative groups provide money and training to suburban school board candidates while progressive opponents struggle to catch up.
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Few hospitals are willing to bear the cost of providing psychiatric care for kids
Only about 30 hospitals statewide have beds for kids who need inpatient mental health care. “No matter what the investment is, we need to make it,” says one doctor.
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What’s your experience with youth mental health in Illinois?
A WBEZ investigation found a lifeline for children in extreme emotional distress has become a bridge to nowhere. Help us dig deeper into youth mental health issues.
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Affirmative action in college admissions may end. Here’s how the U.S. got here.
A Northwestern professor is writing a book about the history of the policy in higher education and spoke with WBEZ about his findings.
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An Illinois lifeline program for suicidal kids has become a bridge to nowhere for many
A WBEZ investigation finds that the state’s solution is buckling under the demand among low-income children for urgent mental health services.
