Chicago

Teachers Beat Students President Obama's hometown:

'Painful Lessons': Abuse At Chicago Schools Hundreds Of Kids Beaten, Whipped, Even Choked By Teachers, Coaches ReportingDave Savini CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge

Treveon Martin, 10, is one of at least 818 Chicago Public School students, since 2003, to allege being battered by a teacher or other staff member.

CBS

1 of 1

 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.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

 h/t Matt Drudge

About 11 weeks ago, I reported from my independent research a case of potential corruption involving Barack Obama and patronage of the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Now, after he has been elected, we find that not only has Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to sell a senate seat, but has tried to play dishonest political games with numerous organizations, including the Children’s Memorial Hospital.

I’m not going to say “I told you so” but it does look as though this hospital may be part of a serious political patronage machine.  This should perhaps not go ignored, and while it is presumptuous and hasty to say that Obama was involved in this scandal, it is hardly a good start for an administration dedicatede to eradicating the "same old politics as usual."

UPDATE:

ABC News reports some rather unflattering remarks from the Governor about the President elect.  The only thing this changes in my mind is that Blagojevich has gone from unprincipled to thoroughly unprincipled.  This definitely shows he really has no warm feelings for Obama, so we can probably assume that Obama wasn't involved.

Is our country more concerned about change, or trust?  

One might conclude that with McCain's recent insurgence in the polls, he is winning the change game.  Yet, are the voters who have moved to McCain -- since the choosing of Sarah Palin for VP -- convinced that he will bring about more change?  

Or do they like the air of authenticity that the ticket embodies vs. the urban, blue-blood, highly polished, Washington-insider ticket of Obama-Biden? 



I propose that voters' "change"-ing opinions of John McCain have to do with the likeability of Sarah Palin.  Her small town values and family life, and a "you go girl!" response to her mastery of unexpected challenges, win over voters.  Not just because she's a woman, but also because she's not an Ivy-league educated CEO or lawyer from the glamorous regions of America.

The undecided Midwest -- suburban and rural -- voters can trust Sarah Palin (she's real), and thus trust McCain by association. 



Compare the McCain-Palin ticket then to the Obama-Biden ticket.  The majority of American voters are likely to gravitate towards the service to country ideals more closely aligned with the Midwest and West, the ideals summed up in the "Country First" theme recently touted by the McCain campaign.  
Compare that to the lack of understanding, and even fear, that most Americans feel towards the self-serving inner-city and inner-Congress wheeling and dealing associated with the Northeast and big cities.  



Simply, McCain is from Arizona and Palin is from Alaska; Barack Obama is from Chicago, Illinois and Joe Biden is from Delaware.  McCain began his adulthood by risking his life many times for the security of our country.  Obama began his career in Harvard Law School and then spent a few years as a "community organizer;" he's on his way to career politician-hood. 

Palin did not attain political success due to overt political ambition.  She had pure intentions of serving her family and community, and then her town and her State. She is a "real" person.  Biden, by comparison, has spent nearly his entire adulthood as a member of the most exclusive club in the nation: the U.S. Senate.

Fair or not, the perceptions Americans have of the two presidential tickets are accurate ...  because they are the perceptions of the two presidential tickets. 

With trust in government at an all-time low, which bona fides are more Americans inclined to place their faith in?   



I’ve heard time and again from women regarding McCain's pick of Palin that it's quite "presumptuous" of McCain to count on women to “vote for Palin just because she's a woman."

Ok. So these women, from metropolitan areas outside Washington, DC, Chicago, Houston, Boston and Los Angeles don't need to vote for her.  Most of them wouldn’t have voted for McCain anyway.

Yet, if women, and men (yes, they like her too!), from the Midwest and West are more enthusiastic about McCain, and if they turn out rather than sit out, it’s all over. Make room for McCain-Palin in the White House.