In his campaign for mayor, the former Chicago schools CEO portrays himself as a turnaround specialist who fixed a dire financial problem and grew enrollment. He has his figures straight, but the full story is somewhat more complicated.
Follow-Up
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Feds Charge Powerful Ald. Ed Burke With Corruption
Burke, the longest-serving alderman in Chicago history, is accused of using his position as alderman to illegally seek business for his private law firm. The questionable intersection between Burke’s public and private roles was the focus of a recent BGA/WBEZ investigation.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
The King of Recusals: How Ald. Ed Burke’s Private Law Business Intersects With His Public Power
Chicago’s longest-sitting alderman has recused himself 464 times in the last eight years, far more than all other aldermen combined. Following recent federal raids, questions of his conflicts of interest have arisen again.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: Did Police Shootings Plunge Under McCarthy’s Leadership?
McCarthy, a Chicago mayoral candidate fired following the Laquan McDonald scandal, says that as police superintendent he oversaw a dramatic reduction in officer-involved shootings. His number is roughly accurate, but he stretches the facts by claiming total credit.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: What’s Missing from Daley’s Property Tax Freeze Pledge
Daley is not promising to freeze property taxes overall, as his recent TV ad suggests. His freeze would apply only to taxes that directly fund city government, one-fourth of a typical Chicago tax bill.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Trump’s Top 10 Falsehoods of 2018
PolitiFact National offers 10 “highlights” from the president’s 2018 record of false statements or exaggerations.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
PolitiFact’s 2018 Lie of the Year
PolitiFact National names the online smears against the students who survived the Parkland shooting as its Lie of the Year for 2018.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Rauner Blames Democrats for Decades of Bipartisan Can-Kicking
Nearing the end of his term, Gov. Rauner pointed a finger at state Democrats over Illinois’ entrenched fiscal instability.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, PolitiFact
Fact-Check: Are Chicago Residents Among the Nation’s Most Taxed?
Low-income Chicagoans face one of the highest tax burdens around. But Lightfoot’s sweeping generalization isn’t supported by the facts.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Taxpayer Tab for Chicago-area #MeToo Cases $55 Million and Growing
Legal costs mount as hundreds of public bodies in the Chicago region over the last decade have faced allegations of sexual assault, harassment or abuse.