Emanuel Backs Schools Chief '100 Percent' On School Closings
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was applauding Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett for blasting her critics who labeled the district's school closing plan "racist."
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel was applauding Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett for blasting her critics who labeled the district's school closing plan "racist."
Singing the civil rights anthem "Woke Up This Morning," Congressman Bobby Rush called it "The Freedom Bus."
Aldermen grilled Chicago Public Schools officials and Chicago Teachers Union members Wednesday, over the plan to close 53 schools at the end of the school year, while the head of the school district answered critics at a Board of Education meeting.
To hear Chicago Teacher's Union President Karen Lewis tell it, we should believe nothing that the mayor and school officials say about the plan to close more than fifty schools. She spoke at the Rainbow-Push Coalition this morning, reports WBBM's Mike Krauser.
A few ways teachers can take that crushing anguish they've acquired while fighting for their communities and relieve it just the tiniest bit.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel staunchly defended his administration's plan to close more than 50 schools, as well as the head of the Chicago Public Schools, as thousands planned to gather downtown to protest school closings.
Protesters filled Daley Plaza, marched through the Loop and rallied again in front of School board headquarters to protest the board's plan to close 53 schools on Wednesday. More than 100 of those protesters were detained and ticketed after staging a sit-in outside City Hall.
Chicago Public Schools will close 54 school programs and 61 buildings in an effort to close a $1 billion budget deficit.
As the Chicago Public Schools prepares to announce its final list of schools that will be closed or consolidated at the end of the school year, district officials were promising investments for schools that receive affected students.
The head of the Chicago Public Schools said Tuesday, despite what critics say, closing some underused or poorly performing schools would be better for the children in them in the long run.
A group of about 50 teachers, parents and students from the Chicago Public Schools boarded a bus to Springfield Tuesday morning, to make their voices heard about school closings.
Chicago Public Schools officials denied rumors Friday that they had banned the graphic novel "Perseopolis" from its schools, explaining they only determined it was inappropriate for use in 7th grade curriculum.
Chicago Public Schools will move to a per-pupil funding model next year, intended to give principals more flexibility in determining how they spend their school's dollars — while bringing all schools, including charters, onto the same funding formula.
Chicago Public Schools officials announced Friday that they plan to move all schools to the same calendar next year, doing away with "year-round" schools, in an effort to make it easier for parents to plan their work and daycare schedules.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis was drawing fire Tuesday over comments made in a speech last month, after a YouTube video surfaced of her jokingly saying "off with their heads" about the wealthy.
The Chicago Teachers Union accused the Chicago Public Schools system of "educational apartheid" on Friday.
Ten people who were arrested Friday night after camping outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Fifth Floor office in City Hall, to call attention to school closings, were released Saturday morning.
The head of the Chicago Public School system said Friday that the District needs more time to decide how many schools might have to close next school year, and to get the public involved in making the decisions.
A day after Jean-Claude Brizard stepped down as head of the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said she thinks Mayor Rahm Emanuel set up Brizard for failure.
The Chicago Teachers Union announced late Wednesday that teachers have voted to ratify a new contract with the Chicago Public Schools.
As teachers in southwest suburban Evergreen Park begin a strike, teachers in the Chicago Public Schools are ready to vote on the new contract that ended their strike last month.
Chicago Public Schools students who missed seven days of classes because of the teachers strike will be making up those days.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has received mixed reviews from two high-profile Chicago politicians for recent TV ads featuring the mayor commenting on the new contract for Chicago Public Schools teachers.
About 357,000 Chicago kids were back in their classrooms Wednesday. So were their teachers. But the shock waves from the nine-day teachers' strike were still being felt, and not only in Chicago.
Now that the teachers' contract is settled, the big question is how Chicago plans to pay for it.
Two political heavyweights were in town on Thursday for this year's Rainbow PUSH convention, the first since the passing of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Seiya Suzuki hit his third career grand slam, Alex Bregman added a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs snapped a three-game skid with a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.
The Mumford & Sons concert at Wrigley Field is delayed until 10 p.m. because of severe storms racing toward the Chicago area
Midway Plaisance began as one of the city's most ambitious unrealized architectural projects and remains the site of some of the city's most storied history and beautiful public art.
Police in the northwest Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights have released a sketch of a man accused of attacking and choking a woman this past weekend.
Multiple floors of the Pentagon were locked down for several hours Thursday morning and hazmat crews were deployed for what authorities had described as a "hazardous materials incident."
The House on Thursday defeated a last-ditch effort to extend a key spy authority until early July.
President Trump said the U.S. has taken out "millions" of barrels of Iranian oil in the dead of night, and said inflation will come down when the war ends.
Republican lawmakers grilled the Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Dr. Macquline King on Wednesday.
Chicago City Council members on Tuesday continued to put pressure on the Johnson administration to replace the city's ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, as a top city official revealed it could be eight more months to get it done.
An Illinois law banning "swipe fees" on taxes and tips — already delayed twice by lawmakers — appears to be on life support after a federal judge that once permitted it issued a permanent injunction against it this week.
A new study from the Cook County Treasurer's office underlines growing concerns about the impact the Illinois megaprojects bill could have on the county's property tax base and overall fiscal health.
As thousands of Chicagoans wrap up road trips over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, gas prices in the city have reached the highest levels seen in four years.
Consumer and environmental advocates said Monday that they found overcharges buried in the most recent rate-hike request by Nicor.
One week away from Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of the summer travel season, with gas prices remaining high, negotiations were set to resume Monday at the largest oil refinery in the Midwest.
Dr. Peter Stafford was working with a missionary group in the Congo when he came down with the virus last month.
While 330 Ebola infections are confirmed in central Africa and huge challenges remain, hundreds more suspected cases "have been cleared out," the WHO says.
June is World Infertility Awareness Month, and Northwestern Medicine on Monday shared the story of a woman who is celebrating the birth of her second child after a tumor disrupted her fertility.
The Centennial Park Aquatic Center in the southwest Chicago suburb of Orland Park has been closed to the public after two recent cases of E. coli infection.
Menopause can feel like a major turning point for millions of women, with symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, and brain fog can make women feel like their bodies aren't their own.
Daley's Restaurant, known as Chicago's oldest, has served Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood for more than 130 years.
Walgreens is set to close in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood on Thursday, and there's growing concern about where families will get their medications.
The owners of Gene & Georgetti steakhouse are suing a concessions operator over their expansion at Midway International Airport.
DraftKings announced Monday that it is closing its sportsbook operation at Wrigley Field after only about two years.
After more than 80 years, there will be no Ann Sather restaurant location in the 900 block of West Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview community, effective in June.
Forty years ago last weekend, crowds turned out for the Chicago Blues Festival — an event studded with a roster of stars for a spectacle that's still talked about today.
Visitors will soon be able to check out the set from CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in Chicago, at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
"Schmigadoon!" — which was tied for the most nominations, with 12 — won Best Musical, and "Liberation" took home the honor of Best Play at the 2026 Tony Awards.
Anthony Head played librarian and mentor Rupert Giles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and recently appeared in "Ted Lasso."
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is on the cover of Madden NFL 27, the first Bear ever to grace the primary cover of the massively popular video game.
Stormchaser Gary Cox joined CBS News Chicago by phone from the area of Livingston and La Salle counties to tell us about the multiple tornadoes he's seen Thursday afternoon.
Two political heavyweights were in town on Thursday for this year's Rainbow PUSH convention, the first since the passing of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Hours of severe storms will give way to cooler temperatures overnight Thursday. Lows in the low 60s.
A line of severe storms - the second of the day - is barreling toward the Chicago area, capable of producing an outbreak of violent tornadoes this evening.
Woodlawn is one of Chicago's most historic neighborhoods, with tales and landmarks stretching all the way back to the 1893 World's Fair. It has some of Chicago's most beautiful parks, an iconic beach and beach house, restaurants and cafes with decades - even centuries - in the neighborhood, and, now, the Obama Presidential Center. Producer Tom speaks the owner of Daley's Restaurant on 63rd Street and historians with the Chicago Park District and Chicago History Museum about all things Woodlawn.
A large tornado has been reported on the ground near south Streator, Ill., and tornado warnings are in effect.
The Mumford & Sons concert at Wrigley Field is delayed until 10 p.m. because of severe storms racing toward the Chicago area
Cleanup is underway after a line of storms raced east through the suburbs and into the city at 70 to 80 miles per hour on Wednesday
Two political heavyweights were in town on Thursday for this year's Rainbow PUSH convention, the first since the passing of founder Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Midway Plaisance began as one of the city's most ambitious unrealized architectural projects and remains the site of some of the city's most storied history and beautiful public art.
The Crisis Alternative Response Evanston, or CARE, team responds to calls that, before July 2024, would have been lumped into police calls.
The system will provide all heating, cooling, and ventilation for the high school's new physical education facilities and contribute to the school system, saving the district nearly $400,000 a year.
The forecast for a summer reopening of West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park is growing cloudy, as negotiations continue between the owners and landlord, after the safety net hospital abruptly shuttered its doors in March.
The Obama Presidential Center has been built with sustainability literally in its foundation. But its infrastructure for clean energy, environmentalism and climate change resiliency will also help the communities around it on Chicago's South Side.
A driver in Carol Stream says a band of hungry squirrels caused nearly $30,000 in damage to three different luxury vehicles because of plant-based parts they view as a tasty snack.
Seiya Suzuki hit his third career grand slam, Alex Bregman added a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs snapped a three-game skid with a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony festivities got underway a little over an hour before the first kickoff in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca.
The Cubs have lost 22 of their past 29 games after starting the season 27-12.
White Sox right fielder Braden Montgomery, who doubled and hit a game-ending homer in his big league debut Tuesday, had two more doubles Wednesday.
It was another humid day up at Halas Hall for day two of the Bears' mandatory mini-camp. One of the new faces on defense said he can handle the heat, and wants all the smoke, while a veteran offensive lineman is trying to regain his footing.
Police in the northwest Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights have released a sketch of a man accused of attacking and choking a woman this past weekend.
A fourth man has been charged in connection with a string of burglaries targeting video gambling terminals in Chicago's west and southwest suburbs since late last year.
A man has been charged with multiple acts of mail theft and burglary in the Chicago area dating back up to three years.
Chicago police on Wednesday released a surveillance image of someone they said was spotted fleeing the scene as a cross burned in Grant Park.
Attorneys for Salah Sarsour, president of Wisconsin's largest mosque, told a federal judge he has lost 30 pounds and is not receiving consistent medical care for Type 2 diabetes while held in an Indiana jail.
