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PrintFebruary 11, 2009
Is child abuse rampant at Chicago Public Schools?
According to an investigative report by the CBS affiliate in Chicago
An exclusive CBS 2 investigation discovered Treveon Martin is one of at least 818 Chicago Public School students, since 2003, to allege being battered by a teacher or an aide, coach, security guard, or even a principal. In most of those cases - 568 of them - Chicago Public School investigators determined the children were telling the truth.
An October story from this source centered on Chicago Public School coaches using the paddle on athletes. Corporal punishment has been illegal since 1994. Not only does the latest story show that the abuse went beyond a few over zealous coaches who didn't know the rules had changed years ago, the latest story reports some forms of abuse that would have been considered criminal in the days when paddling was standard operating procedure in many schools.
The 2 Investigators found reports of students beaten with broomsticks, whipped with belts, yard sticks, struck with staplers, choked, stomped on and pushed down stairs. One substitute teacher even fractured a student's neck.
But even more alarming, in the vast majority of cases, teachers found guilty were only given a slap on the wrist.
One suspects that if a Republican president's Secretary of Education had been in charge of such a school system since 2001 this story would lead every network newscast for a week.
Hat tip: The Anchoress
