* ICYMI: Illinois schools turn to retirees, substitutes, outsourcing & state grants to combat prolonged teacher shortage. Capitol News Illinois…

- The most recent survey of education leaders from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, or IARSS, shows overall shortage percentages similar to pre-pandemic levels, yet school districts are still struggling to ease less-than-optimal student-teacher ratios.
- Of more than 750 schools surveyed this year, 87% said they have a “minor, serious or very serious (shortage) problem.
- The IARSS 2024-25 teacher shortage survey found that while alternative teaching methods helped districts see an increase in the number of educators, the shortage persists due to a lack of new teachers entering the profession.

* Related stories…

∙ Capitol News Illinois: Rural schools face unique challenges filling positions
∙ WTTW: New Surveys Show Signs of Progress in Illinois’ Teacher Shortage

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

* Governor Pritzker is in Texas for the SXSW festival at 11:30 am. At 1 pm, the governor will join IBM CEO Arvind Krishna for “From Sci-Fi to Society: The Next Era of AI and Quantum Computing” panel at SXSW. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Federal jury awards $120 million to 2 men falsely convicted in 2003 murder: It’s one of the largest total awards for a wrongful conviction in U.S. history — larger than the $50 million awarded to Marcel Brown, a Chicago man who was wrongfully convicted in a murder and served 10 years. John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell, who were 17 and 18 when they were arrested in 2003, were each sentenced to 31 years in prison following their 2006 convictions for the murder of Christopher Collazo. No physical evidence or eyewitnesses tied either man to the crime.

* Chicago Mag | How Much Sanctuary Can Chicago Really Offer?: Under Chicago’s Welcoming City law, local officials aren’t allowed to inquire about or investigate a person’s immigration status, at least in most cases. Police also can’t arrest or detain someone solely for being in the country illegally. ICE is still free to conduct immigration enforcement in the city, and the ordinance does not stop Chicago police from cooperating with the agency in criminal matters, such as when a judge issues a criminal warrant. The way ICE typically operates, it asks local law enforcement around the country to detain those suspected of violating civil immigration laws for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release, which gives federal agents time to pick them up. Chicago refuses to participate in this practice.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | McClure, Rosenthal tour damage at Lincoln’s New Salem, urge action for critical investments: “It’s in very bad shape. It should probably have a debris net under it, honestly,” said New Salem Lincoln League President Gina Gillmore-Wolter. “There are boards missing that have fallen down on the highway below it. Some of the steel girders don’t even tough the concrete pads that support it. They shoved two-by-four shims in there, which are rotting and falling out.”

* David Blake Starrett: David Blake Starrett, 68, of Springfield, passed away Friday, February 28, 2025. He was born on January 18, 1957, in Chicago, IL, son of Robert and Jeanette Moore Starrett. […] David was a resident of Springfield for 40 years. He had a passion for politics and the State House. David was a lobbyist at the State House and retired after 40 years. Throughout his life , he enjoyed fishing and scuba diving. He loved sharing his cooking talent with his family and friends. He was also an avid fisherman and a talented amateur writer. David recently joined the Vinegar Hill Association in Springfield.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Mayor Brandon Johnson Opens City Hall Gift Room to Cameras, Promises to Donate Items to Charity: Under new rules announced Monday, members of the public will be allowed to sign up for a 15-minute slot to inspect the gift room once every three months. Those spots will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, officials said. The first opportunity will take place in April, officials said. After members of the public get a chance to see the gifts, the “items will be donated to local Chicago charities,” according to the statement from the mayor’s office.

* Tribune | CPS chief Martinez seeks to disqualify law firm over alleged conflict of interest: Martinez’s lawyer, William Quinlan, filed a motion March 4 to “disqualify the law firm of Cozen O’Connor LLP.” Cozen serves as counsel for seven board members named in the lawsuit between the district’s outgoing chief executive officer and the Chicago Board of Education. Martinez filed the lawsuit against the school board after he was fired Dec. 20 to block the then seven-member body from stripping him of his duties, including his involvement in contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union. Several days after Martinez’s firing the board members attended ongoing contract negotiations with CTU on a new four-year contract that has yet to be settled. Martinez’s tenure as CPS chief will conclude in June.

* Tribune | Housing authorities look for solutions as voucher recipients fail to lease units with rental subsidies: Voucher recipients get 120 days to lease a unit, per HUD policy, with extensions granted on a case-by-case basis, according to the housing authorities that spoke with the Tribune. While the agencies keep lists of available units and can recommend outside organizations that can help with housing searches, the authorities themselves do not have enough staff to aid all voucher recipients in their search, they said. Nina Chalmers, executive director of the North Chicago Housing Authority, said low lease-up rates are becoming an “epidemic” across the country.

* Sun-Times | Chicago Ukrainians fear deportations as Trump considers revoking legal status: ‘Everyone’s scared to death’: Others could lose their legal status even sooner — perhaps as early as May — if Trump shuts down temporary protections issued by former President Joe Biden that have allowed 240,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war to come to the U.S. The deportation threat has loomed for Ukrainians — and many other immigrant groups — since Trump issued an executive order the day he was inaugurated requiring the Department of Homeland Security to wind down many parole programs.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s ex-police oversight chief slams push to fire her as ‘inherently unfair’: Andrea Kersten announced her resignation as chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Feb. 13 — the same day she slammed the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability for conducting an “inherently unfair” inquiry into allegations of misconduct lodged by a group of current and former staffers.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Federal warning to Northwestern: Protect Jewish students or face funding cuts: The threat of funding cuts so far hasn’t affected other local colleges. Southern Illinois University, the University of Illinois Chicago, DePaul University and the University of Chicago could not confirm any announcement or update relating to federal funding cuts connected to antisemitism.

* Sun-Times | Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon announces new DEI initiatives: Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said her office is reinforcing its diversity, equity and inclusion measures amid “threatening rhetoric and cruel policies” from the federal government that are creating uncertainty for marginalized communities. That uncertainty has led to a surge in requests this year for vital records, particularly birth certificates and marriage licenses, Gordon said at a news conference Monday marking her 100th day in office at the Cook County office building in the Loop.

* Crain’s | Wirtz family renews talks with Mundelein schools over impact of Ivanhoe Village: The team working on the Wirtz family’s proposed Ivanhoe Village development is going back into negotiations with local school districts, whose officials had claimed they were being sidelined in discussions of the impact fees the developers should pay. The Mundelein Village Board announced it has pulled two agenda items from its meeting tonight, one covering a proposed terms sheet on the fees to be paid and another to consider an ordinance that would codify a formula for calculating impact fees.

* Daily Herald | How much is enough?: Glen Ellyn village president candidates address housing density in downtown: Once Glenwood Station — the latest apartment development — comes online, “I don’t think we’re going to need any more density downtown. I think that’s going to max us out,” says James Burket, a former village trustee who is seeking the top leadership post in next month’s election. Burket and his opponent, sitting village Trustee Gary Fasules, were asked about the pace of development downtown and whether it needs more apartments during a recent joint interview with the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

* Evanston Now | District 65 gets some good financial news: The outside expert who once warned District 65 that it could have faced a takeover by the state now says that some tough budget cutting decisions have helped brighten the financial outlook. Robert Grossi told the Board of Education on Monday that while D65 is far from out of the fiscal woods, staff cuts and purchasing reductions have led to more money coming in, and less money going out.

* Daily Herald | Why one suburb is banning EV chargers from public parking garages: The local prohibition, perhaps the first approved by a municipality in Illinois, is tied to the vehicle fire that took place Jan. 18, 2024, on the first floor of the Fashion Outlets of Chicago parking garage. It took the placement of a special weighted blanket — and nearly five hours — for the blaze to be fully extinguished by firefighters and a hazardous materials response team, and resulted in closure of a portion of the garage.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | Section of I-57 southbound to close starting Tuesday evening in southern Illinois: The Illinois Department of Transportation stated they will be shutting down southbound I-57 between Exit 30 and Exit 45. This will take place starting at 7 p.m. on March 11, with an expected opening by 7 a.m. on March 12. During this 12-hour closure, road crews will make emergency repairs on the pavement and on guardrails.

* WGLT | Animal rights group files federal complaint against Illinois State University: Stop Animal Exploitation Now [SAEN] filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] in late February. The complaint stems from a noncompliance report ISU filed with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare [OLAW] in July. OLAW is a division of the National Institutes of Health tasked with ensuring animals used in federally funded research projects are treated humanely and ethically.

* WGIL | $1.5M from Illinois EPA funding new public water well project in this Knox County village: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday the Village of Yates City will use the money to drill a new public water supply well. The village will receive $999,028 in disadvantaged community principal forgiveness and $408,054 in One Well Critical Review principal forgiveness to cover the entirety of the loan.

*** National ***

* NYT | Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories: In a sweeping interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, outlined a strategy for containing the measles outbreak in West Texas that strayed far from mainstream science, relying heavily on fringe theories about prevention and treatments. He issued a muffled call for vaccinations in the affected community, but said the choice was a personal one. He suggested that measles vaccine injuries were more common than known, contrary to extensive research.

* Reuters | Media Matters accuses Musk’s X of ‘abusive’ tactics in new lawsuit: U.S. media watchdog group Media Matters sued Elon Musk’s X on Monday, accusing it of bringing “abusive,” costly and meritless lawsuits to punish Media Matters for its reporting on advertising on X after Musk bought the social media platform. Media Matters’ lawsuit, opens new tab in federal court in San Francisco asked a judge to block two cases that X filed in Ireland and Singapore against the watchdog.

* SCOTUS Blog | Supreme Court takes up challenge to Colorado ban on “conversion therapy”: The case was filed by Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor and a practicing Christian. She sometimes works with clients who want to discuss issues such that, she says, “implicate Christian values about human sexuality and the treatment of their own body.” And although Chiles “never promises that she can solve” issues relating to gender identity, gender roles, and sexual attraction, “she believes clients can accept the bodies that God has given them and find peace.” She contends that the law violates her First Amendment rights to free speech and to freely exercise her religion.

* NYT | A Simple Way to Check Police Corruption? Parking Tickets: All over the city, New York Police Department officers and other staff members start their workday by disregarding the law. They park their personal vehicles at bus stops, on sidewalks and in crosswalks, in turning lanes and no-standing zones. Jessica Tisch, who became Mayor Eric Adams’s fourth police commissioner last November, may have bigger problems to fix than her officers’ parking practices. She has focused her tenure on cleaning up after Mr. Adams, a former police captain who suffused the department with a culture of impunity while accusations of corruption spread and quality-of-life concerns persisted.

* Sun-Times | Pritzker to speak to New Hampshire Democrats about dangers of second Trump administration: The Democratic governor has not yet announced whether he’ll seek a third term for governor, and he has consistently tamped down talk of his presidential aspirations. But for now, Pritzker is depicting himself as a leader of the Democratic resistance against Trump, and his national appearances have focused on standing up to authoritarianism.