Chicago City Wire

Since the beginning of the year, Chicago has recorded 42 school-age children murdered and 154 shot and wounded, making it the city with the highest number of youth victims in the nation. This issue receives little attention from city and state leaders, as public focus remains on concerns about immigration enforcement rather than violence affecting young people.

Criticism has been directed at federal immigration enforcement practices, but local officials such as Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have intensified public anxiety over a perceived threat of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in schools. "Mayor Johnson even went so far as to call for a return to remote learning — a move unsupported by any real threat," states the release.

Media coverage has often amplified these fears. The first ICE arrest on school grounds among more than 800 public and Catholic schools led to headlines suggesting an imminent crisis. A Tribune headline compared federal enforcement actions to “state-sponsored terrorism.” Meanwhile, incidents of gun violence near schools receive minimal coverage.

In one week when city officials held press conferences about ICE, reports indicated that Chicago again led the nation with over 3,000 shootings near schools in 2024. Since January, there have been 196 school-age children killed or wounded in Chicago; however, these events have not prompted significant media attention or official response.

The statement asserts: "The harsh truth is that student safety has never been a true priority for Mayor Johnson, his aldermanic allies, CTU leadership, or Governor J.B. Pritzker." It notes that union leaders played a key role in keeping schools closed for 78 weeks during the pandemic—a period much longer than other districts—despite scientific guidance supporting earlier reopening.

During those closures between 2020 and 2022, more than 900 school-age children were killed or wounded by gun violence in Chicago. Research from the University of Chicago Crime Lab found increased rates of violent offenses committed by youth during this time.

Enrollment numbers also declined sharply: between 2019 and 2022 nearly 37,000 students left Chicago Public Schools (CPS), according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. In addition, chronic truancy rates rose significantly last year compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Youth unemployment worsened following school closures. In 2021 alone more than 92,000 residents aged 16–19 were unemployed; another large group aged 20–24 was neither working nor enrolled in school.

Despite full reopening after COVID-19 restrictions ended in spring of https://www.cps.edu/about/finance/budget/, violence against young people continues at high levels. Since then there have been over https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-youth-gun-violence-shootings-homicides-covid-pandemic-20230713-wzjmtby35fb7dbx3l5e5idprxm-story.html311 murders among school-aged youth—including https://crime.lab.uchicago.edu/research-projects/covid-and-crime58 under age twelve—and more than https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/03/18/chicago-public-schools-lost-nearly-37000-students-since-pandemic-began-report-finds/1,462 nonfatal shooting victims reported since schools resumed regular schedules.

Recent policy changes include removing police officers from CPS high schools at CTU’s urging—a decision critics say undermined campus safety despite evidence showing their presence matched student demographics and was guided by principals’ input rather than law enforcement priorities alone.

These actions occurred amid a national rise in school shootings—over three hundred incidents this decade—raising questions about how best to protect students while maintaining trust between communities and police forces.

Staff misconduct within CPS remains another challenge; investigations into sexual abuse or harassment cases reached nearly four hundred fifty last year but resulted in few disciplinary measures compared with policies adopted by private institutions like the Archdiocese of Chicago.

According to critics quoted in this release: "Today’s CTU has evolved into a far-left political machine...to advance [its] objectives — often at students’ expense." They argue that public debate around immigration enforcement distracts from ongoing problems such as declining academic performance and persistent neighborhood violence affecting Black residents who continue leaving the city despite new spending initiatives targeting migrant support services exceeding $600 million so far this year with further funds allocated for education costs related to new arrivals.

The statement concludes: "Chicagoans deserve to see through political theater and recognize the dangerous safety crisis facing our youth...and above all solutions that put students first."