Why have judges and lawyers - including those who bill themselves as defenders of civil liberties - largely deferred to the widespread use of emergency executive power by governors, mayors and others, throughout the Covid pandemic, despite constitutional questions?
The lawsuit argues neither state law or any union-related negotiation or arbitration should allow Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections to ignore due process rights afforded to IDOC workers under the state's public health laws
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow says Chicago Public Schools lacks authority under state law to enforce its so-called vax-or-test mandate, and also can't rely on its contract with the Chicago Teachers Union to sidestep the law
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says only the Illinois Supreme Court can "halt mischief," as school districts statewide ditch forced masking, testing and student exclusion policies that a Springfield judge says were illegal
Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul each promised to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to undo lower court rulings declaring Pritzker's COVID school rules to be non-existent, null, void
The judge issued a temporary restraining order on Pritzker's authority to force school districts to require students to wear masks and to exclude children suspected of being exposed to COVID from school without due process
Plaintiffs say Gov. JB Pritzker and 140 school districts overstepped the state's public health law in issuing statewide COVID mask, testing and student 'exclusion' mandates, unilaterally rewriting state quarantine rules in the process
The lawsuit targets Gov. JB Pritzker, as well as nearly 150 school districts statewide, including at least 69 districts from throughout the Chicago area.
Illinois' powerful public school lobbying groups mobilized to beat back a measure that would have reined in massive school district borrowing, often concealed from taxpayers.
While some local school districts have taken positions against students participating in a planned national student walkout tomorrow to protest the Parkland, Fla. shooting and push for additional gun laws, the same cannot be said for the Chicago Public School (CPS) system.
Democrat leaders who control the General Assembly made it clear they will not take any major action on balancing our budget or passing real reforms until after the General Election in November.
Pension funds aren’t immune to the volatility of the stock market. Even before Brexit, Moody’s warned that low investment returns are already putting Chicago’s pension funds at risk. A major stock market correction or another recession just might put Chicago and CPS over the edge if their already-underfunded pension systems collapse.
“When circumstances are dire, and you’re running out of options, or you have no options left, it’s that process that brings everyone together, imposes discipline and creates a requirement as a practical matter, if not as a strict legal matter, that you get something done that solves the problem,” says bankruptcy attorney David Christian of Chicago.
SPRINGFIELD – Following the Illinois school funding reform’s recent Senate passage by a healthy margin, State Sens. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and Bill Haine (D-Alton) said they were pleased with the 31-21-3 vote.
The union’s one-day strike is an illegal, aggressive political power play, and its attempt to coerce its members to participate violates its own constitution. Here’s a breakdown of the timeline, the law and the political statement the union is making
SPRINGFIELD — When the time comes, suburban and downstate Democrats will join him in his effort to have the state take control of Chicago’s debt-strapped school system, Gov. Bruce Rauner said Wednesday.
Facing $6 billion in long-term debt, solutions to the crisis facing the Chicago Public School (CPS) system are subject of fierce debate these days in the Windy City.
