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'Painful Lessons': Abuse At Chicago Schools--under Duncan's Leadership

Hundreds Of Kids Beaten,
Whipped, Even Choked By Teachers, Coaches . . .
And who was in charge? Arne Duncan, Obama's
pick for Secretary of Education.

Dave Savini

Hundreds of students have allegedly been beaten
by teachers, coaches and staff at Chicago
Public Schools. 2 Investigator Dave Savini
continues his ongoing investigation involving
the illegal use corporal punishment.

Treveon Martin, 10, is afraid of a teacher at
his school.

"I've seen him hit five of them in the
classroom," Martin said.

Martin says he and others have been hit,
grabbed and even struck with a belt.

"He's threatened almost all the kids in his
classroom," Martin said.

He says it happened at Robert Emmet Academy in
November but a Chicago Public School
investigator didn't talk to him until last week
- 70 days after the case was reported, and not
until after we started asking questions.

"He holded my arms and he picked my body up,
and then he just slammed me on the desk,"
Martin said.

An exclusive CBS 2 investigation discovered
Treveon Martin is one of at least 818 Chicago
Public School students, since 2003, to allege
being battered by a teacher or an aide, coach,
security guard, or even a principal. In most of
those cases - 568 of them - Chicago Public
School investigators determined the children
were telling the truth.

"I'm thinking that I don't really feel safe,"
Martin said.

The 2 Investigators found reports of students
beaten with broomsticks, whipped with belts,
yard sticks, struck with staplers, choked,
stomped on and pushed down stairs. One
substitute teacher even fractured a student's
neck.

But even more alarming, in the vast majority of
cases, teachers found guilty were only given a
slap on the wrist.

CBS 2 informed former Chicago Public School CEO
Arne Duncan of our investigative findings
shortly before he was promoted to U.S.
Secretary of Education.

"If someone hits a student, they are going to
be fired. It's very, very simple," Duncan said.

Before heading to Washington, he vowed to take
action.

"Any founded allegation where an adult is
hitting a child, hitting a student - they're
going to be gone," Duncan said.

But that's not what happened under Duncan's
watch. Of the 568 verified cases, only 24 led
to termination. Records show one teacher who
quote "battered students for several years" was
simply given a "warning" by the Board of
Education.

And another student was given "100 licks with a
belt." The abuse was substantiated, but the
records show the teacher was not terminated.

Alderman Pat O'Connor is on the City Council
Education Committee. He wants all these cases
re-examined including the way Treveon Martin's
was handled.

"I'll tell you what it is - it's deplorable,"
O'Connor said. "I really believe that the Board
has dropped the ball in this instance."

He says this information was never brought to
the committee's attention until now.

"You rely on them to follow the law, and
clearly here, it doesn't appear that they
have," O'Connor said.

There is a state law that bans corporal
punishment. But as our 2 Investigators first
exposed in September - students are being hit
by coaches too. Paddles were confiscated, and
CBS 2 exposed gym security tape at Simeon
Career Academy showing a coach paddling
volleyball players reportedly for missing
serves.

Martin says the teacher injured him after he
got into a scuffle with a classmate over an
eraser.

"My back really hurted, and then at the end of
the day, I had to go the hospital," Martin
said.

His mother, Courtney Smith, says he was taken
by ambulance and treated for a contusion on his
back. It is children around his age who appear
to be most at risk. The 2 Investigators found
the students with the most complaints are in
kindergarten through 8th grade.

"He doesn't have very much faith in anyone at
his school," Smith said.

"He hurt my feelings," Martin said.

So why did it take over two months to look into
Martin's case? School officials say it's
because they have many cases to investigate.
But just a few hours ago, an investigator
determined the allegations against the teacher
were unfounded. We are also told only two
students were interviewed.

Incoming Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron
Huberman is troubled by all these cases,
including the case of Treveon Martin and
promises to further review them, and that
includes the process by which they are examined
and investigated.

Alderman O'Connor is drafting a resolution and
will bring our findings to the attention of the
entire City Council this week.

— Dave Savini
CBS2 Chicago
2009-02-09
http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/Painful.Lessons.Abuse.2.931134.html

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