Spring has finally arrived in Chicago — even if it doesn’t feel like it. The city saw some strange weather this week, from thunderstorms to tornado warnings and a fresh coat of snow.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for steep cuts intended to dismantle the Education Department. However, shutting down the agency is most likely impossible without an act of Congress.
Locally, contract negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the teachers union are getting pretty mad as well. The mayor called CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates into a huddle Wednesday at City Hall to try to settle a contract. The following day, the Chicago Board of Education postponed a vote on a controversial budget amendment, citing contract negotiations as the reason for the delay.
Political tensions have also remained high over national politics. A town hall meeting hosted by Illinois U.S. Rep. Sean Casten was disrupted by attendees protesting the Israel-Hamas war and was ended early by police, a Deerfield middle school was thrust into the spotlight after a parent filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice over a transgender student using the girls locker room, and hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a Tesla dealership in Lisle to protest Elon Musk and his efforts to slash the federal workforce.
In Springfield, lawmakers advanced a homeschool regulation bill despite thousands of protesters voicing their opposition to the plan at the statehouse. The Regional Transportation Authority sounded the alarm about service cuts to Chicagoland transit that could come if a $770 million budget gap is not filled. Following testimony from Anjanette Young, state legislators advanced a bill that would mostly ban no-knock warrants by police in Illinois and tighten regulations on executing search warrants.
Lollapalooza announced its lineup of musical artists for summer 2025 on Tuesday. The iconic Chicago music festival will run from July 31 to Aug. 3 in Grant Park and feature headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler, The Creator, Sabrina Carpenter, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Luke Combs, TWICE, A$AP Rocky and Korn.
Plus, March Madness has begun. The NCAA Tournament kicked off this week with the University of Illinois competing in both the men’s and women’s bracket.
That’s it for this week, so let’s get to it! Here’s the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz — this time with excerpts and utterances from March 16 to 22. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
