The Pandemic and Illinois Schools

A Digital Divide, Vulnerable Students and Hidden Data

ProPublica’s Midwest newsroom and the Chicago Tribune investigate how the pandemic exposed inequities in the state’s education system and officials’ failure to provide information about its toll.

Impact of Our Reporting

Illinois Will Start Sharing Data About COVID-19 Outbreaks in Schools

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards

October 21, 2020, 7:45 pm EDT

This Rural School District Has Been Asking for Wi-Fi for Years. Now It’s Finally Getting It.

by Jodi S. Cohen, and Jennifer Smith Richards

April 28, 2020, 6:00 am EDT

8 stories published since 2020

ProPublica Reporting Projects Recognized by Education Writers Association

by ProPublica

April 15, 2021, 4:11 pm EDT
Illinois Has Had COVID-19 Outbreaks in 44 Schools but Won’t Say Where They’ve Occurred

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards

October 8, 2020, 6:00 am EDT
Families of Special Needs Students Fear They’ll Lose School Services in Coronavirus Shutdown

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards

May 20, 2020, 3:24 pm EDT
Most Illinois School Districts Did Not Have Approved E-learning Plans Before the Pandemic

by Jodi S. Cohen, and Jennifer Smith Richards

April 20, 2020, 6:00 am EDT
When the State Shifted to E-learning, This Rural School Superintendent Shifted to the Copy Machine

by Jodi S. Cohen

March 27, 2020, 11:30 am EDT
Not All Schools Can #KeepLearning

by Jennifer Smith Richards, and Jodi S. Cohen and Haru Coryne

March 27, 2020, 11:30 am EDT