Author: Becky Vevea

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.The buildings have sat empty for 12 years. Several are architecturally significant with striking details and character taking up multiple city blocks. But many are in rough shape, with copper stripped from the pipes, broken windows, and graffiti covering walls. One had to be torn down after an extra-alarm fire last year. Now, Chicago Public Schools aims to sell the former schools, putting 20 properties out to bid once again, with the hopes of seeing them repurposed and the possibility of bringing…

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.It’s been four years since Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis died at the age of 67. Now, a new book shares her life story in her own words. Co-written by Lewis and former Chicago school board member and historian Elizabeth Todd-Breland, “I Didn’t Come Here to Lie: My Life and Education” chronicles Lewis’ life from her childhood growing up in Chicago’s Hyde Park, to her twenties working a multitude of jobs, to her years leading the CTU. “She was very clear-eyed…