Education
Alternative schools bear the brunt of student deaths in Chicago
The district’s most vulnerable students often end up in alternative schools that are especially under-resourced to cope with the trauma of gun violence.
Employment and Labor
Worker cooperatives face particular challenges in Illinois
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Worker-owned businesses, or co-ops, can create jobs with better wages and working conditions, but remain limited by state law and a lack of support in Illinois, advocates say.
16 Shots
Reacting to Van Dyke conviction, Chicagoans take to the streets
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While some celebrated the conviction and others protested the political system that tried to cover up the murder of Laquan McDonald, both groups seem to agree that in the city of Chicago and for people of color, justice remains a work in progress.
Investigations
Education
As school discipline disparities worsen, Illinois has yet to require reforms
The state has stalled on requiring school districts with the highest suspension and expulsion rates to improve.
Housing
Few Puerto Rican evacuees in Chicago have benefited from FEMA shelter program
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, critics say poor administration hampered the Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) program in Illinois, creating confusion and missed opportunities for survivors looking for housing.
Criminal Justice
Solitary confinement of juveniles on the rise in Cook County
As other cities and states have moved to ban using solitary confinement as punishment for teens, the practice has increased at one of the largest juvenile jails in the country.