SE Illinois News

Illinois State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) recently took aim at the Chicago Teachers Union following the release of a report that showed that hundreds of teachers had sexually groomed or assaulted students over the last four years.

"Chicago Teacher’s Union and Illinois Education Association……… GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! Your job is to teach and protect our children, not indoctrinate and prey upon them! ENOUGH!!!" Bailey wrote in a Jan. 7 Facebook post.

In his Facebook post, Sen. Bailey linked to an article from Fox News that reported that hundreds of Chicago school teachers and employees had sexually groomed and sexually assaulted students since 2018. The news outlet reported that "The Chicago Public Schools Office of the Inspector General released its annual report Sunday, saying it substantiated more than 300 misconduct allegations out of more than 600 complaints for the 2021-22 school year." It outlined several such incidents, including a high school gym teacher exposing himself to a female student, and a "high school teacher allegedly exchanged 4,000 text messages with a female student, including 400 in one day. The teacher said he was in an open marriage and was "attracted to other people."

The annual report from the Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General noted that the Sexual Allegations Unit closed 300 more cases than in 2021. In 2022, the SAU made more determinative assessments about complaints more promptly than in any period in its four-year history

Chalkbeat Chicago revealed a bit more information. Twelve employees and a volunteer at a school in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood had inappropriate relationships with students — including sexual abuse — or helped cover up that misconduct in a years-long “stunning” and “colossal failure,” Chicago Public Schools’ CEO announced Friday. The district’s watchdog agency will issue a report Friday about the misconduct at Marine Leadership Academy, and 10 employees who are facing allegations of misconduct have been fired or are in the process of being dismissed, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said at a morning news conference. The district said it has removed involved employees from the school.