A bill calling for an elected Chicago Board of Education advances out of the Illinois House, but CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool argues it’s not the answer to the district’s financial problems. The Chicago Teacher’s Union announces a “day of action” April 1, but President Karen Lewis stops short of calling for an outright strike. Proponents of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tobacco reforms drum up support by focusing on the benefits it would bring to the city’s African American communities. Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle defends close to $300k in donations to former Chief of Staff Kim Foxx, who’s in a heated–and very political–race for state’s attorney against incumbent Anita Alvarez.