Le Journal

While declining birth rates continue to contribute to shrinking enrollment at Chicago Public Schools, an increasing number of families are also choosing other schooling options, according to a report released Tuesday from the nonprofit Kids First Chicago.Though overall enrollment at CPS has declined for years, the district steadily served roughly 75% of the city’s school-age population between 2008 and 2018. That’s despite major disruptions including mass school closures and multiple budget crises that could have caused more families to look elsewhere.Since then, the district’s share of the population has dipped, falling to 71% in 2023, the report found.At the same time, the percentages of Chicago students enrolled in private school and those classified in census data as “not enrolled” have both inched up. The latter classification includes children who are homeschooled, dropped out, not enrolled in a formal education program or who are in between schools.The recent drop suggests “that earlier enrollment declines were driven primarily by demographics rather than by more families choosing non-public options,” according to the report. “That trend, however, has shifted.”Hal Woods, chief of policy at Kids First, said population decline continues to be the biggest driving factor of falling enrollment, but “it is interesting that you are seeing fewer families choosing CPS than you saw prior.”Had the school district continued to enroll 75% of the city’s kids, it would be serving 18,000 more students, the report said. CPS enrollment has dropped by about 93,000 students since the 2009-2010 school year, when the district served 409,000 children.While the district has shifted away from relying on enrollment to determine school funding, smaller cohorts of students can still mean fewer staff members, limited access to electives and coursework and schools with not enough kids to field sports teams, according to the nonprofit.Meanwhile, Chicago continues to see fewer babies born each year. In a report released in 2022, the nonprofit found that Chicago experienced a sharp decline in births — and that trend continues.The city recorded 45,427 live births in 2005. That number fell to 39,629 by 2015 and to 26,848 by 2023.“In fewer than 20 years, Chicago’s annual birth total has nearly halved,” the report said.The decline leads to fewer students entering and advancing through the district. Early grades demonstrate this effect.CPS enrolled 27,651 kindergarteners in the 2015-16 school year. This year it enrolled 20,040, a decline of about 27%.In recent years, the arrival of nearly 9,000 migrant students helped offset those declines, briefly swelling the district’s enrollment. But that growth has leveled off, and enrollment restarted its long-standing downward pattern this year.About 316,000 were enrolled on the 20th day of the current school year, a drop of 9,000 compared to last year. The majority of grade levels and most student groups saw enrollment decreases, but the steepest declines were among Black and Latino students, which saw a combined loss of nearly 10,000 students.In contrast, enrollment of white, Asian American and multiracial students increased slightly.Declines in enrollment are also unevenly distributed across neighborhoods, the report found. West and South Side neighborhoods experienced the sharpest declines while other areas remain “relatively stable.”Network 8, a CPS geographic area that is comprised of schools on the Southwest Side in the Mckinley Park area, saw the steepest drop, losing 7,000 students since 2015-2016. The network of schools in the Belmont Cragin and Austin areas was second with a loss of 6,000 students, and third was the network in the Pilsen-Little Village area with a decline of 5,000 students.Woods said that while the district can’t control birth rates or economic conditions, it can help low enrollment schools adapt to the new reality. That might mean getting schools to combine resources. Some schools have…

Nearly a century ago, serial robber Willie Sutton reportedly explained why he was sticking up banks by saying wryly: “Because that’s where the money is.”These days, crooks in the Chicago area seem to be centering on a new source of cash: establishments offering video gambling. The Illinois Gaming Board recently confirmed what many in the industry already knew: 2025 saw an explosion of crime, with more than $2.7 million stolen during 473 burglaries at those types of businesses last year.Nearly half of those burglaries — 219 — occurred between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.There have been at least 40 since Jan. 1.“There’s never been this volume and this audacity,” said a businessman who operates multiple video gambling sites that have collectively experienced eight burglaries since October.In 2024, there were 358 such burglaries statewide and $1.9 million taken, according to the gaming board, the state government agency tasked with regulating legal gambling statewide, including roughly 9,000 sites with video gambling.In 2023, there were 336 burglaries, plus 316 in 2022 and 306 in 2021 — with almost $4.7 million taken in those three years combined.Some suburban gambling businesses have been hit more than once in recent months, and it appears multiple burglary crews are operating in the area, often rolling up to targeted sites in stolen cars when parlors are closed and smashing through windows and doors, triggering alarm systems but aiming to get in and out before police arrive. On occasion, the thieves have gotten more creative, figuring out how to electronically bypass alarms, according to industry sources.ATMs inside have been hauled away, and “redemption” kiosks that let winners cash out have been cracked open along with the electronic devices offering the games themselves.Beyond the money taken, there’s also been costly damage to equipment — pry bars and sledgehammers are sometimes used to aggressively breach machines — and a rush by parlors to add security measures such as drop-down metal shields over entry points to contend with the growing menace. Crooks inside a video gambling parlor in Bensenville this month, using a tool to break into a machine.Bensenville Police Department At times burglaries have turned perilous. Some offenders have been armed, and their actions have led to police chases that often have been called off because of the danger of fleeing vehicles driving recklessly on local streets, according to interviews.In one incident in October at a Midlothian gambling parlor closed for the night, several burglars busted through the front glass. Unable to dislodge an ATM machine inside, they drove a stolen Jeep into the storefront to jar it loose. The machine was then hoisted into the vehicle, which sped off and later was abandoned in another south suburb, Dolton.It’s unclear whether the burglary crews are part of something organized — street gangs or operating under the auspices of the mob.Illinois video gambling goes live in 2012 Legislation legalizing video gambling in Illinois was approved in 2009, and the first machines went live to the public in 2012. Before then, numerous bars and restaurants had devices, but they were supposed to be for “amusement” purposes — payouts to winners weren’t allowed.Many establishments paid out anyway, and the Chicago mob was sometimes involved in distributing the machines and splitting the revenues. Just last year, three reputed mob figures — including the Bridgeport man once portrayed by federal authorities as the Outfit’s video poker kingpin — were arrested for allegedly burglarizing a sprawling home in Kane County owned by a restaurateur whose establishments have video gambling machines. The homeowner, however, dismissed any connection to gambling.That case is still pending in court.Separately, within the last few days a car pulled up outside a gambling parlor in southwest suburban Bedford Park called Lilly’s Slots around 4 a.m., and several people wearing hoods and dark clothing…

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State lawmakers return to the Illinois House on Tuesday to gavel in the 2026 legislative session and prepare for months of wrangling over how to bridge a $2.2 billion budget gap in a critical midterm election year.Leaders of Democratic supermajorities in the Illinois General Assembly are sticking to the national party message of addressing affordability for voters who face rising costs on utility bills, health care, home insurance and just about everything else.Aside from legislators’ main task of passing a budget, new competition from Indiana officials looking to lure the Chicago Bears across the border could move the ball forward in Springfield for a new stadium in Arlington Heights.Lawmakers could also tweak portions of the state’s polarizing SAFE-T Act in response to a horrific Blue Line attack that raised questions about electronic monitoring. And troubles for Bally’s Chicago Casino and Hawthorne Race Course — plus a new city tax on sports betting operators — could spur new legislation around the state’s bevy of gambling options.Not that Democrats are likely to rock the boat with any controversial bills before the March 17 primary.The Illinois Senate quietly kicked off its legislative calendar last week, Gov. JB Pritzker will deliver his budget proposal Feb. 18 and a spending plan has to be approved by May 31. Here’s an early look at the General Assembly’s spring session.Budgeting for affordability — and maybe a millionaire taxReduced federal funding and the ever-present threat of further cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration make it another precarious spending year, with a projected $2.2 billion shortfall entering the state’s fiscal year that begins in July.Cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other social service programs in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill put the onus on state lawmakers to set aside more money to maintain support for some of Illinois’ most vulnerable residents.“I don't know how you see around the corners and predict the irrationality that's coming out of Washington right now,” said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park. “I don't know what tomorrow holds or the day after, but I think we're going to remain committed to a responsible, balanced budget living within our means, paying off our debts and investing in things that matter to people across Illinois.”Harmon and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, downplayed the possibility of reviving the fight for a state constitutional amendment for a graduated income tax to bolster state coffers with a higher percentage from the wealthy. Governor JB Pritzker (left) stands with Senate President Don Harmon (center) and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (right) during the signing ceremony for the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act at Union Station in The Loop, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times Voters soundly rejected that Pritzker-backed initiative in 2020, but they’ve signaled support in past ballot measures for another progressive revenue idea Welch is floating: a surcharge tax on millionaires.“I think it'll allow us to do some other things that are desperately needed with an additional source of revenue,” said Welch, who added that his chamber’s agenda will also include heightened state regulation of homeowners and auto insurance as premiums have soared.“This affordability crisis that's been created by the current president and Washington Republicans has us laser-focused on bringing costs down for everyone,” he said.Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said “House Democrats can’t talk about affordability and being relatable to Illinois families after repeatedly passing billion-dollar policies — often in the middle of the night,” referring to marathon sessions that typically see budget bills called in the wee hours. “We have a spending problem and Illinois House Republicans will continue to demand accountability.”Bears stadium driveThe Bears could scarcely get a bill…