CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The parents and families of eight young children with special needs said Thursday they were abused by their Chicago Public Schools teacher at Whistler Elementary School.
Candace Bowen said her daughter, who has autism, is one of them.
“I trusted CPS, the principal, the administrators to protect my child, and they all have failed her,” Bowen said.
According to the lawsuit, which also names the City of Chicago, CPS and others as defendants, the accused teacher used abusive language and struck the children with wooden rulers and other objects. When asked by parents about marks on the faces and bodies of their children, the teacher allegedly said the students were clumsy due to their physical or mental disabilities.
“My daughter's behavior has changed for the worse,” Bowen said. “She began having violent tantrums, throwing herself around, pulling out her own hair, and banging her head on the floor."
Other parents said their son would cry as soon as they pulled up to the school because he didn’t want to go in.
Victor Henderson, with the Cochran Firm, is one of the lawyers representing the families.
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“This is an incident that has been going on for several years, it could be as much as 20 years,” Henderson said. “We don't know. We don't have all the facts right now. We are in the process of digging into them.”
Henderson said there are audio and video recordings of some of the incidents and photos of injuries to the students.
“Many of them have been physically abused and mentally abused — in the context of that they've had to watch their classmates be abused by a teacher,” Henderson said.
CPS released a statement Thursday and announced the teacher in question has been removed from the school and the matter is under investigation.
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