Schools and Education
Civic learning for every age, in plain words. Explainers, short briefs and comics on the places and systems that keep a city running, for classrooms, colleges and learning platforms. Free to read, with sources on every page.
Pick Your Level
Same city, same heroes, four different tones. Start with the level that fits your learners, then follow the links to real, sourced materials.
Young Kids
Ages 6-9
Warm, silly, read-aloud. Clam the catch-basin truck and friends, big pictures and one thing to try at home.
Middle School
Ages 9-12
Adventure and teamwork. How water, roads and cities work, told with puns and a fun story.
High School and Older
Ages 13-17
Witty and fast. Budgets, bids, jobs and AI, with a habit of asking who checks the work.
Adult Sector
Ages 18+
Cool, edgy noir for adults who are young in mind: sharp lines, no gore, and GOTB's positions made easy to grasp.
Colleges and Universities
Case-style briefs and explainers for courses in public policy, planning, procurement, engineering and data. Each one is sourced and written to be read in one sitting.
Clam, the Catch Basin Truck
Infrastructure upkeep versus the flood: a worked example with sourced numbers.
Open →ExplainerChicago's Water Mains and Lead Pipes
The underground rebuild, who pays and who checks, in plain words.
Open →Case briefPaper vs. Pavement
Fraud and integrity in public works, and how data tools support the honest majority.
Open →Case briefDemo vs. Deliverable
How public buyers verify a vendor demo: five questions.
Open →AI and workRobots Meet the Job Site
What a robot-jobs study means for skilled crews and public projects.
Open →AI and workToken Flip?
A viral AI claim, the data underneath, and what a buyer should ask.
Open →ExplainerAirport Concessions at O'Hare and Midway
How shops and restaurants win airport space, step by step.
Open →What Educators Get
Every page cites its sources, so students can check the work.
About five minutes each, with a text version of every graphic.
Free samples with a text version of every panel, from Young Kids to Adult Sector.
Open access: no login and no paywall for anything on this site.
The unit is described on the Comics page; the ordering link is coming soon.
Discussion questions and answer keys for the briefs and comics.
Saved lists and progress, through the sign-in below.
Educator and Institution Sign-In
Educator and Institution Sign-In
Accounts for teachers, schools and universities are on the way. For now everything here is free to read, and no sign-in is needed.
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About
Meet Michael E. Brown
President and Managing Partner, GOTB Consulting, LLC · Chicago
Michael E. Brown has 20+ years of governmental and municipal consulting and lobbying experience. He was lead contract negotiator on the $8.5B O’Hare 21 program and the $800M O’Hare rail extension, and lead lobbyist and contract negotiator on the $400M Chicago Department of Water Management lateral redevelopment. (Dollar figures are program sizes, not GOTB fees.)
He has worked with the Illinois legislature and public officials on public-private partnership (P3) policy, and has consulted to the Cook County Commission on reducing duplicative administrative offices. He is a frequent speaker at governmental and municipal functions, focuses on good government and healthier social and economic solutions for safe, successful neighborhoods, lives in Chicago, and serves on the Board of the March of Dimes.
- M.S., Psychology (1997), University of Iowa
- B.S., Psychology (1995), University of Iowa
About
Meet Richard Butler
Partner, GOTB Consulting, LLC · Chicago
Richard (Rich) Butler is a partner at GOTB Consulting and a 38-year veteran of Chicago city government. From August 2019 to February 2020 he served as First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Administrative Officer of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), responsible for day-to-day administration and operations of O’Hare and Midway, including finance, contracts, operations, legal, human resources, workforce development, concessions, real estate and vehicle services. CDA manages the two airports with a federally funded budget of $8.5 billion. (Dollar figures are budget and program sizes, not GOTB fees.)
Before that, Rich was First Deputy Procurement Officer at the City’s Department of Procurement Services and Chief Administrative Officer of the Chicago Park District, where he oversaw procurement, audit, finance, warehousing and general administrative services on an estimated annual budget of $385 million and established district-wide policies and procedures. His City career began at the Department of Aviation as Director of Contracts Administration, and he also served as General Superintendent of the Department of Streets and Sanitation.
He completed the Chicago Accounting and Purchasing System Training Program and the City of Chicago Executive Management Program, was a key team member on the design and implementation plan for the City’s new eProcurement system, and is a member of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and the Purchasing Management Association of Chicago. He has served on the board of the Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union and on the US Communities board, representing the City of Chicago, and traveled to South Korea to represent Chicago in the Kotra Alliance to bridge contracting opportunities. A native of Englewood, he attended De La Salle High School.
- B.S., Northern Illinois University
Fictional characters from GOTB’s original stories. Real-world facts always link to public sources.