skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

"We Demand Change": A Call to Get Police Out of Chicago Schools

play audio
Play

Wednesday, June 17, 2020   

CHICAGO -- Amid the intensifying appeals to rethink the role of police in cities across the country, there's a new push to end the police presence in Chicago schools.

An ordinance announced Tuesday calls for Chicago Public Schools to terminate its $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department. At a news conference, advocacy groups for education and racial justice spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance, including Carlil Pittman, a youth organizer for the Southwest Organizing Project.

"We demand that things change," he said. "With this legislation being introduced, we expect and demand for the city to follow behind, because these young people here today are not the same young people that was here when I grew up. These young people will not take no for an answer."

The Police Free Schools Ordinance also would prohibit the city and the superintendent from entering into any future school security agreements with the CPD and the Board of Education. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said the city would not end the schools' contract with the police department.

Supporters of the ordinance contend police officers in schools contribute to criminalizing conduct of black and brown students, as well as unnecessary use of force. CPS alumna Meyiya Coleman, an organizer for VOYCE (Voices of Youth in Chicago Education), said students would be better served through expanded mental- and behavioral-health supports.

"We are asking for a team that helps build safer schools. This includes restorative justice practices and professional peacemakers, and more," she said. "Our schools are not a threat. Our students are not criminals."

Alderman Roderick Sawyer of the 6th Ward, who introduced the ordinance, noted that more than 2,000 misconduct complaints have been filed against CPD officers stationed in schools.

"I understand the mayor's position, and I have great respect for her, but we have to look at what the facts are," he said. "The facts are stating that over 2,000 people have gotten records, as reports of misconduct. All of these things that are happening to our children in schools."

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools had the highest reported number of school-based arrests of any school district in the country during the 2015-2016 school year.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021