Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicitly prevent police from ticketing and fining students for minor misbehavior at school, ending a practice that harmed students across the state. ProPublica reported.
The new law would apply to all public schools, including charters. It will require school districts, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, to report to the state how often they involve police in student matters each year and to separate the data by race, gender and disability. The state will be required to make the data public.
The legislation comes three years after a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation, “The Price Kids Pay,” revealed that even though Illinois law bans school officials from fining students directly, districts skirted the law by calling on police to issue citations for local ordinances.
“The Price Kids Pay” found that thousands of Illinois students had been ticketed in recent years for adolescent behavior once handled by the principal’s office — things like littering, making loud noises, swearing, fighting or vaping in the bathroom. It also found that Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed at school than their white peers.
From the House floor, Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat from Chicago, thanked the news organizations for exposing the practice and told legislators that the goal of the bill “is to make sure if there is a violation of school code, the school should use their discipline policies” rather than disciplining students through police-issued tickets.
State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from suburban West Chicago and a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that ticketing students failed to address the reasons for misbehavior. “This bill will once and for all prohibit monetary fines as a form of discipline for Illinois students,” she said.
State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from suburban West Chicago and a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that ticketing students failed to address the reasons for misbehavior. “This bill will once and for all prohibit monetary fines as a form of discipline for Illinois students,” she said.
The legislation would also prevent police from issuing tickets to students for behavior on school transportation or during school-related events of activities.
The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the legislation. The group said in a statement that while school-based officers should not be responsible for disciplining students, they should have the option to issue citations for criminal conduct as one of “a variety of resolutions.” The group said it’s concerned that not having the opting to issue tickets could lead to students facing arrest and criminal charges instead.
The legislation makes clear that police can arrest students for crimes or violence they commit, but that they cannot ticket students for violating local ordinances prohibiting a range of minor infractions.
That distinction was not clear in previous versions of the legislation, which led to concern that schools would not be able to involve police in serious matters —and was a key reason legislation on ticketing foundered in previous legislative sessions. Students also may still be ordered to pay for lost, stolen or damaged property.
“This bill helps create an environment where students can learn from their mistakes without being unneearrily funneled into the justice system,” said Aimee Galvan, government affairs director with Stand for Children, one of the groups that have advocated for banning municipal tickets as school-based discipline.
The news investigation detailed how students were doubly penalized: when they were punished in school, with detention or a suspension, and then when they were ticketed by police for minor misbehavior. The investigation also revealed how, to resolve the tickets, children were thrown into a legal process designed for adults. Illinois law permits fines of up to $750 for municipal ordanice violations; it’s difficult to fight the charges, and students and families can be sent to collection if they don’t pay.
After the investigation was published, some school districts stopped asking police to ticket students. But the practice continued in many other districts.
In my opinion, bringing police officers into schools is a bad idea. Kids deserve better than being scared that the police might ticket them or take them to jail. There is no good reason for police officers to ticket students in schools. Fear doesn’t help anyone – especially kids. Police officers are doing it wrong, and should never be targeting children.