Chicago Tribune – February 23 2026 – Chicago Tribune

Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have seen a promising turnaround in their student reading scores after passing a series of similar literacy reforms. Gerald Herbert/AP By Jeb Bush As the world watched the just-concluded Winter Olympics, it was hard not to think of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game between the United States and the Soviet Union.

That moment was magical. It was also the result of grueling, foundational practice and a relentless focus on the basics of the game. Today, a “Southern surge” in education is capturing national headlines, and many onlookers are calling incredible academic progress in states such as Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi a modern-day miracle. In truth, improved student outcomes in these states are the result of a disciplined, “meat-and-potatoes” game plan that other states can follow.

The states making headlines are places that have historically faced uphill battles against poverty and limited resources, yet their students are no longer at the back of the pack. Louisiana ranks first in the country for pandemic recovery in reading, while Alabama holds that same top spot for math recovery.

Mississippi, once an educational punch line, now ranks ninth in the nation for fourth grade reading. Every one of those rankings represents tens of thousands of children who can read and solve math problems — and eventually graduate prepared for success beyond school. The deeper you dig into the data, the more profound the transformation feels.

According to the Urban Institute, when you adjust for demographics such as race and poverty, Mississippi ranks first in the nation for both fourth grade reading and math. Black fourth graders in Mississippi are now, on average, better readers than their peers in Massachusetts — a state that spends nearly twice as much per pupil and currently is considering its own literacy plan. While the progress is gratifying, those advocates and policymakers who have been in the trenches for decades know it didn’t happen by accident.

These gains are the result of courageous leadership and a relentless focus on the fundamentals. Sound, sustained policy changes lives. We saw in Florida 25 years ago that if you get the bedrock right, students will flourish. Over the last decade, these Southern states have done exactly that. They didn’t chase the flashiest headlines or the distractions of the day; they just kept pushing for better outcomes for their kids.

The road map isn’t all that complicated. It starts with a comprehensive literacy policy that includes early screenings to catch struggles before they become failures, personalized reading plans and a third grade promotion gate to ensure students are prepared to tackle more difficult reading in later grades.

Cindi Camacho has spent nearly a decade at ASPIRA Busi- ness & Finance High School, first asaclassroomassistantandlatera bilingualteacher.Inhernewcomer students’faces,sheseesfragments of her own family’s story. Her parents came to the U.S. as teen- agers. “It has been a labor of love for me, because I’m a daughter of immigrants,”Camachosaidofthe majority-Latino school in Avon- dale. “It would be devastating for us not to see our seniors graduate orwalkthestage.” The charter network ASPIRA has announced it is facing a $4.8 milliondeficit,andcouldbeforced toshutteritsthreeschoolsassoon as next month. More than 570 studentsanddozensofstaffarein limbo,awaitinganswersandbrac- ingforapossiblesuddenclosure.

A midyear closure would be unprecedented within Chicago Public Schools. ASPIRA operates twohighschoolsontheNorthwest Side—ASPIRABusiness&Finance High School and ASPIRA Early CollegeHighSchool—aswellasa smallalternativeschoolthatreen- rollsdropouts. In an interview with the Tribune, ASPIRA CEO Edgar Lopez cited declining enrollment and rising labor costs as factors driving the network’s finan- cial crisis. But he said ASPIRA is still in talks with the district, and expressedcautiousoptimismthat theschoolswillstayopen.

“I feel we are,” Lopez said. “But would I put my life to it? No, becauseCPS,sometimesyoudon’t knowwherethey’recomingfrom.” Since November, the district has provided four advances to ASPIRA totaling $2.5 million to make payroll, according to CPS. But Board of Education members Families, teachers in limbo as charters face closure A financial crisis threatens to shut down Chicago’s three ASPIRA schools midyear By Madeline King CHICAGO TRIBUNE Lots of coyotes are out and about in Chicago and its suburbs, andexpertssaythere’snocausefor alarm.

Coyotes have been spotted along the Magnificent Mile, in the Streeterville neighborhood, in the Montrose Beach Dunes, on frozenwaterinHumboldtParkand outsidetheMuseumofContempo- raryArtChicagoinrecentweeks. According to Chris Anchor, a wildlife biologist for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, people are seeing more of the species lately because mating season aptly peaked Feb. 14. Coyotes,whoareinstinctuallyterri- torial,arethereforepatrollingtheir landmoreoften. “Everybody in the Chicagoland area lives within the territory of a family group of coyotes,” Anchor said.

Chicago’s coyotes on prowl for mating season INSIDE See COYOTES on Page A4 See CHARTERS on Page A2 $ 4 . 0 0 | M O N D AY, F E B R UA R Y 2 3 , 2 0 2 6 | C H I C A G O T R I B U N E . C O M Winner of 28 Pulitzer Prizes for Excellence in Journalism TODAY’S WEATHER High 30 Low 20 Complete Chicagoland forecast on Page A14 178thyearNo.54 ©ChicagoTribune By Michelle L. Price and Allen G.

Breed ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — An armed mandroveintothesecureperime- terofMar-a-Lago,PresidentDonald Trump’sresortinPalmBeach,Flor- ida, before being shot and killed around1:30a.m.Sunday,according to a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

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• File Extension: .pdf
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• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9374328941, 1521200025, 1710309016, 1813219001, 1734321032, 1922106003, 1060060000, 1904423043, 2022409027
• Pages: 96
• Language: English (en)

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