The Tribune has troubling statistics about the number of new teachers versus the availability of teaching opportunities. Overall, the competition is expected to remain tough for new teachers, in part because school enrollment in Illinois has begun to decline, meaning fewer teachers are needed. The state board’s supply and demand report said that K-12 enrollment [...]

The surreal cloud enveloping state government since early December lifted over the weekend, revealing the wreckage that is our state’s financial situation.  Talk about a buzz-killer. Governor Quinn, as he siftes through the debris, is moving forward.   On Sunday, the Tribune reports, he received a warm reception from the congregation at Chicago’s Salem Baptist Church, [...]

Our new governor has been around Illinois politics for as long as most of us can remember, so the question isn’t “Who is Pat Quinn?”  The question is, “Who is Pat Quinn now?”  Insights and history about the man Michael Madigan once called a “disgrace to his Irish heritage” are here and here.  Almost everyone [...]

Pat Quinn has truly hit the ground running, which is ironic as, unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t appear to be much of a jogger.  In the first day and a half on the job, Quinn did many things his predecessor rarely, if ever did: He went to bed and awoke in the governor’s mansion He [...]