Chicago City Wire

School administrators within Cook County reportedly handed out 63,305 suspensions and 86 expulsions solely during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Illinois Report Card.

In total, there were 63,485 disciplinary actions recorded during the school year, of which 63,391 were suspensions or expulsions, representing an average of 0.1 actions per student in the county. There were an additional 94 cases of students being removed to alternative settings rather than being suspended or expelled.

The expulsions were issued for 27 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury, 11 incidents involving violence without physical injury, 15 incidents involving drugs, three incidents involving a firearm, and 13 incidents involving a dangerous weapon other than a firearm.

Among the 1,242 schools in the county, J. Sterling Morton East High School reported the highest number of disciplinary actions at the time, with a total of 4,523—or 7.1% of all incidents countywide.

The county reported that most in-school suspensions where a reason was specified were given for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 4,536 recorded cases. There were also 1,089 incidents involving violence that caused physical injury. Additionally, 26,280 cases were classified under "other reason" or left unspecified.

There were 41,682 disciplinary incidents involving male students. Another 21,539 incidents involved female students.

Of all suspensions issued in the Cook County schools, 21,530 involved elementary or middle school students, while 40,726 involved high school students.

Out-of-school suspensions most commonly were for incidents involving violence without physical injury, with 7,345 cases reported. Additionally, 12,084 cases were classified under the "other reason" category.

In terms of ethnicity, Hispanic students, who made up 40.1% of the student body in Cook County schools, were suspended or expelled the most in the county, with 26,719 suspensions and 62 expulsions reported during the 2023-24 school year (42.2% of all disciplinary actions). They were followed by Black students, who made up 25.2% of the student body, and received 25,387 suspensions and were expelled 18 times (40.1%).

Some schools or districts may not publish complete disciplinary data due to privacy protections or reporting limitations, which could affect the totals.

Illinois allocated $8.6 billion to K-12 education in its 2025 budget—a $350 million increase over FY 2024, meeting the minimum required under the state’s school funding formula.

In 2024, Illinois registered a teacher retention rate of almost 90%. Yet, around 91% of superintendents reported having a 'serious' problem teacher shortage problem. In total, almost 4,100 teaching positions remained vacant by the end of the year.

“They’re putting a substitute in there, that’s somebody with a four-year degree that’s not in teaching. They’re using a retired teacher…or worse than that, they’re canceling the class, putting the kids in other classrooms, putting them in study hall, but those are strategies we have to use if there’s no qualified teacher,” said Beth Crider, regional superintendent of Peoria County Regional Office of Education #48.

Type of Incident	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension	Expelled
Alcohol	1,029	1,232	-
Violence with injury	1,089	4,702	27
Violence without injury	4,536	7,345	11
Drug offenses	1,027	2,218	15
Firearm	47	230	3
Other dangerous weapons	206	442	13
Tobacco	525	313	-
Other reason	26,280	12,084	17
Total	34,739	28,566	86

Duration	In-School Suspension	Out-of-School Suspension
One day or less	3,854	249
1-2 days	27,007	10,617
2-3 days	3,178	8,168
3-4 days	536	5,607
4-10 days	121	2,964
More than 10 days	43	961