Even though one-third of Illinois schools have been placed on financial watch lists by the state Board of Education, leading Democrats are moving closer to a plan that would shift some teacher retirement costs from the state to schools. The new plan — wh

Adolfo Mondragon has taken on state Sen. Antonio “Tony” Munoz once before and drew less than a third of the vote. But that defeat hasn’t done a thing to silence Mondragon in this winter’s rematch in the Democratic 1st Senate District primary, a campaign

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. School boards across the state should have known the generous, pension-sweetening retirement deals they approved for retiring teachers were too good to be true. And now, if the Legislature and gove

I fear that I’m falling into a publicity trap set by my devious Tribune Company colleagues upstairs at Chicago Magazine. Lists of the best, worst, funniest, sweetest, saddest whatevers are catnip to many readers, provoking, as they do, spirited conversat

This year’s gala emphasized Equality Illinois’ agenda by focusing on the accomplishments in securing gay rights on both state and federal levels. Dressed to the nines and eager to celebrate their progress, LGBT advocates attended Equality Illinois’ annua

Consider this the classic Catch-22: To get meaningful reforms, Illinoisans should be able to bypass the legislature to enact ethics measures. But before voters can get that power, the legislature has to approve placing the proposed amendment on the ballo