Katie Drews

Investigator

Katie Drews is a reporter with the Better Government Association's investigative staff. She is tasked with, among other things, investigating and exposing problems in municipal governments throughout Illinois.

She is the former managing editor of a small web-based media company, through which she was regularly published in the Chicago Sun-Times. Previously, she was managing editor of a suburban weekly newspaper covering the Village of Forest Park.

A native of the Chicago area, Drews earned a journalism degree from Loyola University Chicago, where she had been editor of the student newspaper.

Articles:

Follow-Up

17 Months After Teen With Autism Drowned at CPS Pool, Board of Ed to Strengthen Water Safety

Following BGA/Sun-Times investigation into special ed care at pools, Chicago's school board is set to take up policy changes that would limit pool activities and focus lifeguard staffing.
June 25, 2018
Explainer

Chicago’s New City ID Opens Doors But Stokes Fears

With its CityKey ID card, Chicago follows New York in launching a municipal document aimed at opening access to an array of services for residents who lack identification. But conservatives claim it's a gateway to voter fraud.
May 7, 2018
Investigation

Autistic Teen's Death In CPS Pool Heightens Questions Of Special Ed Care

Fourteen-year-old Rosario Gomez didn't know how to swim, wasn't wearing a lifejacket and had significant problems communicating. His drowning in a high school pool last winter fuels doubts about Chicago Public Schools’ ability to care for its special needs students.
September 8, 2017
Explainer

Understanding The Most Poorly Funded School System in America: Illinois

By design, Illinois places an outsized reliance on revenue from local property taxes to fund schools. That has led to dramatic increases in property taxes across the state while also creating a worst in the nation gap in funding between rich and poor districts.
March 30, 2017
Investigation

Dorothy Brown Offers Political Advice — For A Price

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has long been dogged by allegations of pay-to-play in the administration of her office even as she also faces criticism for sloppy and inefficient record keeping.
March 3, 2017

Katie Drews

Investigator

Articles:

17 Months After Teen With Autism Drowned at CPS Pool, Board of Ed to Strengthen Water Safety

Chicago’s New City ID Opens Doors But Stokes Fears

Autistic Teen's Death In CPS Pool Heightens Questions Of Special Ed Care

Understanding The Most Poorly Funded School System in America: Illinois

Dorothy Brown Offers Political Advice — For A Price