llinois 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.