Gov. Pat Quinn on June 26, 2014 signed an important strengthening of anti-bullying law in Illinois, setting in place policies and procedures to protect all Illinois school children, including LGBT youth.
This significant enhancement was made possible by the hard work of parents, sponsors Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans, and advocacy groups such as Equality Illinois and the ACLU of Illinois.
As described by Sen. Steans, “Based on recommendations from the School Bullying Prevention Task Force, this legislation requires school districts, charter schools and non-sectarian private schools to strengthen their anti-bullying policies in order to provide a safe learning environment for all students. Schools must designate staff members to receive anonymous reports of bullying, make efforts to investigate reports within ten days, protect student privacy, prohibit retaliation and false accusations, establish the types of interventions used to address bullying and inform students and parents of bullying-related procedures.”