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100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools

Declining school enrollment has left 30% of Chicago public schools at least half-empty. The city’s failure to address this problem has come at a high cost to the district — and its students.

Reporting From the Midwest

Our team in the Midwest covers Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri. Based in Chicago, it grew out of our first regional publishing operation, which focused on people living and working in Illinois. Read more.

100 Students in a School Meant for 1,000: Inside Chicago’s Refusal to Deal With Its Nearly Empty Schools

Declining school enrollment has left 30% of Chicago public schools at least half-empty. The city’s failure to address this problem has come at a high cost to the district — and its students.

Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

In the wake of ballot measures that increased abortion access and improved sick leave for workers, a coordinated effort is unfolding across the country to restrict direct democracy — and shift power to partisan legislatures.

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School

The legislation comes after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that even though state law bans schools from fining students directly, districts skirt the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.

Local Reporting Network Partners

ProPublica is supporting local and regional newsrooms as they work on important investigative projects affecting their communities. Some of our past and present partners in the region:

Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
The Southern Illinoisan
Carbondale, Illinois
WBEZ
Chicago, Illinois
The Daily Herald
Arlington Heights, Illinois
The Business Journal
Youngstown, Ohio
Outlier Media
Detroit, Michigan

This Doctor Specializes in Diagnosing Child Abuse. Some of Her Conclusions Have Been Called Into Question.

Dr. Nancy Harper is a leading child abuse pediatrician who testifies in trials across the Midwest. She’s claimed to have never incorrectly diagnosed a shaken baby syndrome case, but some judges and juries seem to disagree.

A Doctor Challenged the Opinion of a Powerful Child Abuse Specialist. Then He Lost His Job.

A Minneapolis pediatrician said he felt pressured to “fall in line” with child abuse specialist Dr. Nancy Harper and her team. Then he was given a choice: resign or be fired.

Former Chicago Cop Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Battery of Two Female Colleagues

Eric Tabb is one of 14 Chicago officers accused of sexual assault in the past decade with at least one other alleged incident of sexual misconduct. The cases reveal how the department failed to vigorously investigate such allegations involving police.

“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States

As the White House redirects counterterrorism personnel and funds toward mass deportations, a state-level scramble is on to preserve efforts once supported by Washington. The result is a patchwork approach that leaves many areas uncovered.

Help Us Report on Sexual Assault and Misconduct by the Chicago Police Department

We want to talk to people who have experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct — which includes sexual harassment and unwanted, inappropriate touching or comments — by Chicago police officers, on or off duty.

Chicago Police Dismissed a Recruit’s Claims That a Colleague Sexually Assaulted Her. Then He was Accused Again and Again.

The Invisible Institute and ProPublica reviewed over 300 complaints accusing Chicago officers of sexual assault and misconduct. Time and time again, the police department downplayed or ignored claims, enabling officers to become repeat offenders.

A Teacher Dragged a 6-Year-Old With Autism by His Ankle. Federal Civil Rights Officials Might Not Do Anything.

The Garrison School is part of a special education district that had students arrested at the highest rate in the country. It had pledged to change how it disciplines kids after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation and subsequent federal probe.

Millions of People Depend on the Great Lakes’ Water Supply. Trump Decimated the Lab Protecting It.

The Trump administration’s slashing of budgets and staff have Great Lakes scientists concerned that they have lost the ability to protect the public from toxic algal blooms, which can kill animals and sicken people.

The Untold Story of How Ed Martin Ghostwrote Online Attacks Against a Judge — and Still Became a Top Trump Prosecutor

Martin’s career is dotted with ethical and professional questions, records show. Some of the most serious ones about the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. have remained buried in court filings, overlooked by the press or never reported — until now.

White Supremacist Terrorgram Network Allegedly Inspired Teen Accused of Killing Parents and Plotting Trump Assassination

Court documents reveal that Nikita Casap’s alleged manifesto calling for Trump’s assassination cited multiple Terrorgram publications and urged people to read the writings of a network member who murdered two people outside an LGTBQ+ bar in 2022.

What Reality TV Gets Wrong About Criminal Investigations. (Spoiler: So Much.)

When Edgar Barrientos-Quintana was cleared of murder charges last year, reporter Jessica Lussenhop noticed something she had never seen before in a wrongful conviction case: the involvement of popular true crime show “The First 48.”

Will Extreme Spending and Partisanship Undermine Trust in State Supreme Courts?

The millions in campaign funding poured into the Wisconsin Supreme Court election spotlights the increasing partisanship around these supposedly neutral court roles. It also feeds a growing concern nationally about the independence of state high courts.

In An Era of Big Money, the University of Illinois Shrugs Off Rules on Athletes’ NIL Deals

Records show that a fraction of the school’s athletes are complying with a state law requiring them to disclose endorsements. In the wild west of college sports, Illinois’ flagship university says the rules are losing relevance.

The Art Institute of Chicago Returned a Sculpture to Nepal But Obscured Its Connection to a Wealthy Donor

The famed museum recently returned a 12th-century Buddha sculpture that it says was stolen from the Kathmandu Valley. However, the institute’s announcement failed to mention the statue had once belonged to wealthy donor Marilynn Alsdorf.

“A Wholly Inaccurate Picture”: Reality Cop Show “The First 48” and the Wrongly Convicted Man

Edgar Barrientos-Quintana spent 16 years behind bars wrongly convicted for a shooting featured on “The First 48.” The Minnesota attorney general’s office effectively alleged that the show shaped the case instead of the case shaping the show.

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What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo of Andy Kroll
Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come

    Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.

    George Mason Is the Latest University Under Fire From Trump. Its President Fears an “Orchestrated” Campaign.

    When university president Gregory Washington received notice that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into complaints of antisemitism, he was “perplexed.” But there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him.

    Texas Overhauls Anti-Abortion Program That Spent Tens of Millions of Taxpayer Dollars With Little Oversight

    After a ProPublica and CBS News investigation revealed that Texas’ funding pipeline for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers is riddled with waste, nonprofits in the program must now provide a detailed accounting of their expenses.

    Some Texas Officials Didn’t Respond to Flood Alerts, Echoing the Tragedies of Hurricane Helene

    Weather warnings predicted devastation from both the Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.

    The Militia and the Mole

    Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.