When President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan unveiled their “Race to the Top” education grants last year, the $4.35 billion program was tucked in a massive $110 billion federal stimulus program that prompted state legislatures to scramble to get a piece of the action. Next week, Illinois officials are off to the races; they intend to seek $500 million in “Race to the Top” money designed to reward states that promote educational innovation.
But Chicago News Cooperative reporters Crystal Yednak and Katie Fretland report that educators and reform activists are already raising flags about the state’s ability to fund the initiatives over the long term in Sunday’s Chicago pages of the New York Times. Illinois is now delinquent on $1 billion in education payments to school districts. To win the “Race to the Top” money, Illinois officials plan to commit to reforms that could lock schools into costs that they can’t afford down the road unless, of course, legislators face the facts and raises the taxes needed to support education in Illinois. Education is a crucial beat for the Chicago News Cooperative and Yednak and Fretland provide readers with the incisive public interest reporting that is at the core of our mission.
In his Sunday column, the CNC’s James Warren weighs in on the race for the Cook County Board. Warren views the race as a no-win election, not only for the losers but particularly for whomever gets elected to run a “bloated, inefficient, corrupt, 22,000 employee and $3.2 billion-a-year social service agency and tax collection behemoth.” He assesses all of the candidates, finding one to be a hack who only keeps files, another with the censorious air of that junior high teacher you hated and one a long-time employee of an obscure agency with no particular achievements. As for the incumbent, Cook County Board President Todd H. Stroger? I’ll let Warren fill you in on him.
“Billy the Kid” Harris used a “defiant, almost angry shot” on a basketball court to rise from the social carnage of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes to become an all-city performer at Dunbar High School, a star on some very good Northern Illinois teams and two years of pro ball with the San Diego Conquistadors of the old American Basketball Association. He died of a stroke on Jan. 3 at age 58 and when friends and family gathered at the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion for a memorial, CNC Sports Columnist Dan McGrath was there. Billy, McGrath reports, really made his bones on Chicago’s playground courts and youth center gyms where Hoop Dreams are born. He became a key character in Sylvester Monroe’s “Brothers,” a gripping novel of young African American men coming of age in Chicago’s projects and worked through some rough patches after the crowds no longer roared when he was shooting a basketball. McGrath’s account of his life makes for quite a read.
Ever wonder what happens when a thaw sends 270,000 tons of road salt into Illinois waterways? Well, CNC reporter Jessica Reaves says it’s not good for frogs in the “Pulse” column of the Sunday Times. Katie Fretland is also keeping count of how many more alleged victims of torture at the hands of deposed Chicago Police Commander John Burge remain in jail. One victim, Michael Tillman, was freed from jail this week after serving more than 23 years. But more than 20 others who claim they were tortured into confessions remain behind bars. Fretland brings readers up to date on the tally spawned by Mr. Burge’s “Midnight Crew” at the Area 2 police headquarters. Chicago taxpayers likely haven’t heard the last of this one.
The Chicago News Cooperative is dedicated to the kind of public service reporting that Chicago readers see in the pages of the New York Times twice a week. We are one more set of eyes on the people and institutions that govern this great city. We invite readers to comment on our work and let us know what we should be reporting on in your neighborhood.
