* The Tribune has published a shocking investigative piece entitled “Betrayed: Chicago schools fail to protect students from sexual abuse and assault, leaving lasting damage”…

When students summoned the courage to disclose abuse, teachers and principals failed to alert child welfare investigators or police despite the state’s mandated reporter law.

Even in cases where school employees acted swiftly, they subjected young victims to repeated interrogations, inflicting more psychological pain and defying basic principles intended to preserve the integrity of an investigation.

Ineffective background checks exposed students to educators with criminal convictions and arrests for sex crimes against children. And CPS failed to disclose to other districts that past employees had resigned after investigators found credible evidence of abuse and harassment. […]

The exact number of cases in which school workers sexually assaulted students remains elusive, in part because CPS does so little to understand and tackle the problem. The district acknowledges that it does not track child abuse by its employees in a consistent or formal manner. […]

In other districts across the state and country, school employees have been imprisoned for failing to report abuse. But the Tribune found no evidence that Chicago school employees who kept quiet about allegations were charged criminally.

Go read the whole thing. The data is horrible, but the individual stories are at once disgusting and heartbreaking.

* And for state legislators reading this…

Illinois also does not require the state board to collect data about sexual abuse of students, even though school districts must by law report the rare instances in which a student sexually assaults a school employee.

That is appalling.

…Adding… From CPS…

CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson Statement:

“As CEO and a CPS parent, I will not be satisfied until I am confident that the district is doing everything possible to ensure that our hiring practices, background checks, training, and handling of sexual assault and misconduct allegations are the best policies and practices to protect our students. Period.

“As a first step, we have identified a series of significant actions – including bringing in an independent evaluator to conduct a top-to-bottom review of district processes and policies – that will be implemented going forward to help ensure the best possible supports are in place to protect students.

“Nothing is more important to Chicago Public Schools than student safety – particularly with the adults who are supposed to serve them, and we are taking significant actions to ensure our students have safest possible learning environments.”

BACKGROUND:
For a comprehensive list of actions the district is taking to further protect our students, please read Protecting Chicago’s Children: CPS Plan of Action in its entirety at bit.ly/cpsplanofaction.