The Chicago Board of Education is preparing to remove police officers from public high schools. Local School Councils already have the power to remove officers, but district leaders are taking away that local control.
The Chicago Board of Education is reportedly preparing to remove police officers from high school buildings in the fall.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Teachers Union leadership have vocally opposed police officers being stationed in Chicago Public Schools buildings. The school board was appointed by Johnson, a former CTU organizer, and will vote on whether to renew the $10.3 million police contract this summer.
During his campaign, Johnson said police “have no place in schools.” Once in office he ultimately deferred to Local School Councils to vote on whether to keep police officers in schools.
CTU leadership advocates police-free schools, claiming a police presence “perpetuate the racist school-to-prison pipeline.” They also took legislative action to push policies that could put other students in danger by restricting police presence and discipline of students.
Research on the effectiveness of school resource officers varies. That shows the importance of letting decisions rest with local leaders, who understand the environment and needs of their own community and schools.
The Chicago Board of Education wants to take away that autonomy from principals, teachers and families. It is expected to unilaterally decide to remove police officers from high schools.
Taking decision-making away from local leadership
Each school in CPS is different. Principals and other community members on Local School Councils understand the environment and needs of their schools. They are best equipped to determine the necessity of school resource officers.
CPS formerly provided every high school with two police officers. In 2019, CPS gave authority to Local School Councils to determine whether to keep the officers. No schools removed officers that first year.
During the next four years, Local School Councils in 25 high schools voted to remove all officers. This school year, just 16 high schools have two officers and another 23 have one officer. There are 91 traditional high schools in CPS.
Now CPS and CTU leadership want to remove all officers from Chicago high schools regardless of the wishes of local school council members. Some principals are voicing disagreement with this proposal by the board.
William Howard Taft High School Principal Mark Grishaber said, “I think a blanket (school resource officer) policy for the entire district in terms of safety is not the best for” Taft and some other schools. Most students and faculty at Taft support having police officers assigned to campus.
CTU advocates for fewer police in schools, other polices that could harm safety.
This isn’t the first time CTU has advocated for situations that could put students at risk.
The union lodged a witness slip in favor of a bill allowing the Illinois State Board of Education to award competitive grants to districts that reallocate funding away from school-based law enforcement personnel to other practices, such as “restorative justice programs” and use of social workers. Grant funds were explicitly prohibited from being used to increase the use of school-based security personnel.
Similarly, CTU lodged its opposition to a bill allowing school safety and security grants to law enforcement agencies to help defray the costs associated with hiring a school resource officer.
And the union also opposed using metal detectors in schools, objecting to a bill requiring public schools to install walk-through metal detectors at public entrances and directing the Illinois State Board of Education to make grants available, subject to appropriation. The bill also would have required metal detectors at institutions of higher education, hospitals and courthouses.
Source: www.illinoispolicy.org
