A new proposed bill in Illinois aims to stop schools from working directly with cops to issue students tickets for minor misbehavior. The common practice is harmful and costly, but many school districts have continued despite pleas to stop from the state’s top education officials.
The new legislation, introduced last month by Rep. La Shawn Ford, would amend the state’s school code to make it illegal for school personnel to involve police to issue students citations for incidents that can be addressed through a school’s disciplinary process. A 2015 Illinois law prohibits schools from fining students as a form of discipline; instead, some school officials have been referring students directly to police, who then ticket them for fighting, littering, theft, possessing vaping devices and other violations of local ordinances. It’s cop-mentality from certain school officials that’s preventing a complete separation from learning and policing.
“We have to close that loophole and end school-based ticketing. There is no place for this type of system to be in our schools.”
-La Shawn Ford, sponsor of Illinois HB3412, Chicago democrat
This investigation documented about 12,000 tickets written to students over three school years and also found that, in places where information was available on the race of ticketed students, Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed as their white peers, imagine that.
The total number of fines adds up quickly, for example McHenry High School: $7,500 in fines, or in Oswego: $7,000 were owed. At Jacobs High School in Algonquin: $2,800. The proposed bill is obviously not intended to stop police from arresting students for actual crimes. It would also not prevent schools from seeking restitution from students for lost, stolen or damaged property.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t feel the need to police children so punitively. That perfect world is still something to work towards.
Side Items
Orpah At It Again: Madam Winfrey, the media mogul who constantly escapes scrutiny like the slippery seasoned vet she is, has purchased 870 acres of land in Kula in the central part of the island of Maui. The media mogul couldn’t make herself content with the more than 100 acres she already owned in Kaui, so she had to add another 870 colonizing acres to her already robust collection of properties. The purchase came at a price of nearly $6.6 million for 870 acres of near-pristine, agriculturally-zoned land stolen by white people and now repurposed for the queen of promoting unhealthy habits and pseudo-science
Florida Snowflake Laws: A new bill introduced in the Florida state legislature would require “bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, or other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.” That’s really all the motivation I need to slowly transition this newsletter into an opportunity to openly bully a teeny tiny beta soy boy like Ron DeSantis (relax, he’s 5’9” he can defend himself)
Sometimes Infographics Are Helpful: If you’re the type of person to claim not to know enough about Palestine to have an opinion, here’s a helpful article providing background information and important context to the ongoing oppression. Ignorance of apartheid Israel’s crimes is no excuse