Manuel Reyes, 55, a 3rd grade teacher at Raymond Ellis Elementary School in Round Lake Beach, is being accused of allegedly molesting four female students. "We expect there could be additional victims," prosecutor Jason Humke said to the Chicago Sun-Times during Reyes' bond hearing this week. New information presented at the hearing made Judge Raymond Collins raise Reyes' bail from $100,000 to $250,000. As of Friday, he was still in jail. more ›

Thinking about standardized testing can really make some people sweat, and it looks like it's making a lot of teachers, parents, and students sweat right now: an analysis of ACT scores has indicated that approximately 80 percent of public high school juniors in Illinois are not ready for college studies. The Chicago Tribune recently looked through around 133,000 tests that juniors in Illinois high schools were required to take in April 2010. Upon searching through the numerous test scores (which the paper obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request), the Tribune determined that too many high school juniors were not meeting the set "benchmarks" for each of the subjects that were tested. more ›

Mayor Daley announced today that the city will be setting aside $25 million in federal stimulus cash for programs that will be used to help fight violence amongst Chicago Public Schools students. This school year, 27 CPS students were killed, down from last year's tally of 32 students. The cash will break down like so: more ›

An internal memo revealed non-union Chicago Public Schools staff will “have to take six unpaid furlough days this year,” adding to CPS’ woes on a local level. Earlier this week, Mayor Richard M. Daley encouraged the city’s agencies to make “such cuts,” according to a Chi-Town Daily news report. CPS Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman was behind the July 28 memo, confirmed CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond, the report said. The memo states: more ›

It’s getting harder out there for Illinois students who attend public universities. more ›

By a vote of 33-23, the Illinois State Senate approved a bill that would give schools more control over how to handle students with criminal records. The bill would allow schools to place such students in alternative schools. State Sen. Randy Hultgren, the bill's sponsor, said, "They realize that it is something that school districts aren't going to use lightly, because it is serious. But a forcible felony is serious, too." The impetus for the case is an incident at a Naperville Unit District 204 school where two boys allegedly sexually assaulted a third. When the victims' parents asked that the alleged attackers - who have been charged with felony criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault - be moved to a different school, the school said it was out of their control. While this bill moves onto the state House, a similar bill, introduced State Rep. Darlene Senger, has already been introduced to the House but is under review. [Daily Herald] more ›

A trio of Indiana boys, all students at Portage High School, may be tried as adults for terrorizing classmates on a bus. A hearing has been set for March after The Porter County Prosecutor's office has filed papers to try the trio - Ashley Javon Toney, 17; Joe Francisco Carnell, 17; and Charles McCloud-Smith, 16 - as adults. As for the alleged crimes themselves, they're quite eye-opening and instead of attempting to recap them, we'll just go with what WBBM outlined in their article. more ›

In an attempt to cater to more than just tourists and business types, a new web-based initiative called Loop U Chicago launched Thursday. The site links up 35 businesses - ranging from Old Navy to the Art Institute - with 16 campuses and an estimated 60,000 Loop students. It offers users access to coupons, exclusive discounts, scholarships, job and internship offerings and news and event listings. more ›