‘Vallas helped Wall Street loot Chicago’s schools.’ The Lever: Looking back to mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’ time atop the Chicago Public Schools, a new report concludes that his actions transferred more than $1.5 billion from classrooms to some of the wealthiest parties on the planet.
■ From Saturday: The Lever, founded by Northwestern-educated David Sirota, “has been ahead of the media pack on several recent stories.”
■ Vallas’ successor at the schools’ helm—and later U.S. Education Secretary—Arne Duncan is backing Vallas for mayor, on grounds cop-friendly Vallas is in the best position to give police “the hard truth.”
■ WBEZ and the Sun-Times contrast the life stories of candidates Vallas and Brandon Johnson.
■ Time to decide: Check the Chicago Public Square voter guide—for the city and the suburbs.
Who moved the Taste? When Block Club Chicago asked the city about the decision to yank Taste of Chicago out of Grant Park to make room for that NASCAR thing, it got back 121 pages—almost all of them redacted, rendering the contents indecipherable.
Lawmakers at work. Advancing through the Illinois General Assembly: Bills that would …
■ … let multiple-occupancy public restrooms be labeled as gender-neutral.
■ … require all state-funded affordable housing to have air-conditioning controlled by residents.
NPR’s bleeding. The network has cut four podcasts and 10% of its staff.
■ A Harvard professor of government and the press: “Public radio can help solve the local news crisis—but that would require expanding staff and coverage.”
■ In a move targeted at—among others—the nation’s increasingly desperate newspaper publishers, the Federal Trade Commission is proposing a rule making it easier to “click to cancel” recurring subscriptions and memberships.
■ Takes One to Know One Dept.: Fox host Tucker Carlson this week attacked TV hosts who tell “lies” to “keep their stupid TV jobs.”
‘Young people have First Amendment rights.’ Count the Electronic Frontier Foundation against a groundbreaking Utah law blocking kids and teenagers’ access to social media apps unless they have parental consent.
■ The law—effective next year—would also forbid those under 18 from using social media between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
■ An EFF director says it would “incalculably harm the ability of young people to protect their privacy.”
■ Slate interviews a Florida school board chair who forced out a principal after Michelangelo’s David was shown in class.
TikTok, toasted. The company’s CEO yesterday endured hours of grilling from D.C. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
■ As of April 1—no fooling—Twitter’s yanking “verified” badges from those who haven’t paid the company cash.
■ Lyz Lenz’s Dingus of the Week: Bosses.
■ The Onion: “Investors Worried AI Could Leave Shred Of Humanity Intact.”
'We nearly broke the system.’ The Sun-Times reports that, three years into the pandemic, Chicago-area hospitals are struggling against waves of patient violence and staff departures.
■ ProPublica: “A bleak assessment” from the National Institutes of Health finds the national rate of stillbirths “unacceptably high.”
■ A New Orleans federal court decision written by a Donald Trump appointee has blocked a federal mandate that U.S. government workers be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Before we get to the real reason you’re here. Just a reminder that it costs money to send Square free, daily, to thousands of readers.
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■ And now, yeah, here it is:
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.