School Teachers and Other School Officials Being Trained on How to Report Your Children to CPS

As "Back to School" time approaches, parents everywhere are preparing - shopping for school supplies and clothes, adjusting schedules, and making arrangements for after-school care. The public needs to be aware that, while parents get ready to send children back to public school, teachers and staff in the schools are undergoing mandatory training right now that will result in some children being taken from their families, perhaps permanently. Several sources from within the system have told us that the first 6 weeks of school are the time of year when CPS seizes more children than any other time of the year. According to the 2015 Child Maltreatment Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the highest percentage of reports of child abuse and neglect comes from educational personnel. In 2015, teachers and other school staff made 18.4% of the total reports to CPS, up from 17.7% in 2014. Under the guise of "protecting children," Child Protective Services is training school personnel all over the country about reporting parents for all sorts of things that may be considered "signs of abuse." These "signs" include: not wearing a jacket when it is cold out, not having school supplies or lunch money, having too many tardies, or being withdrawn or depressed at school. Because they are "mandatory reporters," teachers and staff are being told that they can lose their jobs, be sued, or go to jail for not reporting things that could happen in any normal, non-abusive household.