Editorial: City teachers: ‘We need a voice’
During a thunderous, revival-style teachers union rally on Wednesday that drew thousands of teachers and school staff to the Loop, one theme emerged above all else: Chicago teachers have had it. “We need a voice and we don’t feel it’s happening,” said Chicago Public Schools …
Editorial: Fitzgerald set high bar for successor
Almost forgotten in Chicago lore is that back in the 1960s, the office of U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois was occupied by a political hack named Edward Hanrahan. What a difference a half-century makes. In the intervening years, Chicago has been blessed …
Editorial: GOP should back cigarette tax
In his bid to reform Medicaid and pensions this spring, Gov. Pat Quinn said Monday that the “end zone” was tantalizingly close. On Medicaid, as least, that doesn’t appear to be wishful thinking. We’re hoping he’s right — and that the Senate Republicans don’t force …
Editorial: Don’t rush to lift campaign donation limits now
Limits on campaign donations in Illinois have been around just 17 months. Nevertheless, a change that could seriously undermine the very notion of campaign limits is on the table in Springfield. We join several good-government groups who say a proposal to lift donation limits in …
Editorial: Chicago cops make their luck in policing protests
EDITORIAL: So much for 1968. So much for baton-swinging cops and tear gas and mass arrests. So much for police riots. If the whole world was watching this time, good. What we saw in Chicago over the weekend and on Monday was police training that paid off. We saw police work at its best.
Editorial: Vets return medals to send heartfelt message
When nobody really knows, great humility is called for. On Sunday morning, a group of 35 or so veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars explained with a certainty as unclouded as the sky over Lake Michigan why the United States should pull every last …
Editorial: Teach kids now or pay later
Anyone who is paying attention knows that early childhood education is one of the best investments a society can make. The returns, in terms of life outcomes for at-risk children who attend high-quality preschools, are significantly better than any other intervention society has dreamed up, …
Editorial: The most forgotten among us deserve a proper burial
Even those among us who can’t be identified after death, or whose families haven’t got a dime, deserve a dignified burial. That hasn’t been happening in Cook County. Earlier this year we learned that hundreds of bodies had piled up in the county morgue for …
Editorial: What do the protesters want?
There may be as many worldviews on display in Chicago over the next few days as there will be protesters here for the weekend NATO Summit. The breadth and reach of protest topics can leave you spinning. Protesters, most organized by Occupy Chicago, already have …
Editorial: No real innocents in Burge’s world of torture
A man named Michael Tillman spent 23 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder, and now the taxpayers of Cook County will pay him $600,000 in restitution. Who’s to blame for what happened to Tillman? The quick answer, partially true, is former Chicago …
Editorial: A primer on what’s at stake at NATO Summit
If you live or work in Chicago, you may be shocked to learn that the NATO Summit this weekend is about more than protesters and traffic headaches. OK, maybe not shocked. Chicagoans know that leaders from 60 countries and organizations around the world are descending …
Editorial: This is no time for Republican legislators to delay reforms
With a little more than two weeks to go in Illinois’ legislative session, there’s talk that some Republicans are trying to delay major reforms in hopes of getting more leverage. Don’t do it. This is a rare moment in Springfield. Lawmakers, led by Gov. Pat …
Editorial: Background check firms must face accuracy test
Anyone out of work knows how discouraging that can be. So imagine the discouragement if you learned you didn’t get a job because of an erroneous background check that said you had criminal record. It happens. One Illinois man was denied a job because of …
Editorial: Mayor Pit Bull’s year of straining forward
We mean this as a compliment: At his toughest, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is like the most ferocious pit bull you’ve ever encountered. He goes for the flesh and doesn’t let go until he draws blood. Lucky for Chicago, this pit bull is on our side. …
Editorial: Tugga Bear’s short life of love and danger
We can’t help but wonder what the future might have held for Julian King had he not been killed at the gentle age of 7. What chance, we must ask, did little Julian have of growing up safe and healthy, on the right side of …
