Chicago Tribune Opinion newsletter
Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team
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Chicago Tribune Opinion

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Good morning, Chicago.

Domestic violence in Chicago and surrounding municipalities is on the rise. Several heartbreaking incidents over the past year have put this issue into the spotlight, but the Tribune Editorial Board still doesn’t think it is getting enough attention.

In its other piece today, the board critiques the new contract deal struck between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools. The deal avoids layoffs and cuts at CPS, but will cost the district an estimated $1.5 billion over four years. “The average CPS teacher will surpass $110,000 in salary by the end of the contract. Can CPS really afford that? We’ll find out,” the board writes.

Columnist Laura Washington writes about Sen. Bernie Sanders seemingly passing the progressive leadership torch to U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Washington asks: What about Sen. Elizabeth Warren?

Steve Chapman is back this week with a piece comparing the recent red-state crackdown on out-of-state abortion providers to the Fugitive Slave Act during the Civil War. A former Illinois politician writes about the recent lawsuit that state Republicans filed over gerrymandering and why he thinks Democrats on the Supreme Court should recuse themselves from weighing in on this issue.

Thanks for reading. We will be back tomorrow.

— Grace Miserocchi, opinion editor

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Editorial: Chicago has a domestic violence crisis hiding in plain sight

Domestic violence in and around Chicago began an annual increase in 2019, and has spiked again to start 2025.

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Editorial: Chicago Teachers Union ‘won’ what was long on the table. Financial strife abides.

In the end, the Chicago Teachers Union accepted a collective-bargaining deal that essentially had been on the table for months.

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Laura Washington: Bernie Sanders’ handoff to AOC looks like a fait accompli

As Bernie Sanders and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez raise fists together on the Fight Oligarchy tour, Elizabeth Warren is not on the scene.

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Steve Chapman: Crackdown on abortion providers and seekers is reminiscent of the Fugitive Slave Act

The parallels between anti-abortion states cracking down on abortion seekers and providers and the slavery fight are hard to miss.

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Jim Nowlan: Democrats on Illinois’ high court must recuse themselves on gerrymandering

Democratic justices on the Illinois Supreme Court are mired in conflicts of interest; they must recuse themselves from the redistricting lawsuit.

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Letters: Investments in trauma-informed literacy should be a priority

Meeting a child’s basic needs and ensuring that they feel safe and calm are vital, yet commonly overlooked, conditions to learning.

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