Criminal Justice
Misinformation impedes voting rights of Illinois’ formerly incarcerated
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Illinois is among the few states where formerly incarcerated regain their voting rights after release, but many are misinformed and unaware.
Criminal Justice
Report: Doctors at Illinois youth prison gave kids antipsychotic medication for common behavioral problems
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Juveniles with conduct disorder and ADHD were prescribed Seroquel, a powerful antipsychotic drug that causes sedation and weight gain and has a high potential for abuse.
election 2018
Midterm elections: A judge is ousted and Democrats win big across the state
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For the first time since 1990, Cook County voters refused to retain a sitting judge.
Perspectives: The Powers That Be
Now Pritzker needs to keep his progressive promises
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J.B. Pritzker won a resounding victory by outspending Gov. Bruce Rauner at every turn, downplaying ethical questions and racial tensions in his campaign, and presenting a clear alternative to Rauner’s failed incumbency. In a number of areas he took positions that were more progressive than the Democratic mainstream. But getting results on those promises will take lots of work on his part and even more organizing by activists. One key issue separated the two candidates: Pritzker was elected on a clear platform of implementing a progressive income tax, with higher rates for wealthier taxpayers. That’s an absolute necessity if Illinois is to get it’s fiscal house in order, meet its constitutional duty to fund schools adequately, and rebuild a safety net that Rauner decimated.
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.
Behind the Data
How Illinois obscures racial disparities in school discipline data
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The state is legally required to publish data on the race and ethnicity of students who are disciplined in schools. Here’s why that’s not happening.
Education
As school discipline disparities worsen, Illinois has yet to require reforms
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The state has stalled on requiring school districts with the highest suspension and expulsion rates to improve.
Perspectives
Worker-owned co-ops: a model to build wealth for low-income communities in Chicago
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Illinois law stops worker-owned cooperatives from being established as businesses in Chicago, a city ripe to join the national movement to democratize local economies.
Education
Over 160,000 eligible low-income students denied MAP grants last year
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More than half of applicants for Illinois’ Monetary Award Program, which helps poor students pay for college tuition, were turned away in the 2016-17 school year due to a lack of state funding.
Perspectives: The Powers That Be
A progressive income tax is Illinois’ best shot at solving budget crisis
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Ending the state’s flat income tax rate would reduce taxes for most while raising $2 billion in additional revenue a year, a new report says.