- Published: Thursday, June 07, 2018 10:02 AM
Chicago Tribune - June 7, 2018
By Gary Marx, David Jackson, Juan Perez Jr. and Jennifer Smith Richards | Original story
Illinois lawmakers this week introduced a set of legislative proposals and began planning hearings in response to the Chicago Public Schools sexual abuse scandal.
A bill proposal filed Tuesday listed child protection shortfalls highlighted in a Tribune investigative series and outlined more than a dozen changes to state law. Those measures would swiftly revoke the licenses of educators found by districts to have sexually abused children and would make such disciplinary action more transparent to the public.
The proposed legislation also would make it a crime for school employees to have sexual contact with a student regardless of the student’s age. Under current law, sex with a student is legal if he or she is older than 17 and no force is involved.
Separately, state legislators called for a joint Senate and House hearing within the next two weeks.
“We should seize this moment and stop deferring justice. To fail to do so is to fail in our duty to protect and educate our children,” Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago, said Wednesday.
Read more: In The News: CPS sex abuse findings result in proposals to change Illinois law