South Cook News

Christine Shanahan McGovern, a candidate for Illinois State House District 36, has voiced her concerns about the need for renewed training to substitute in a new school. She mentioned that she had to watch videos which were different from those "pushed by the CTU." McGovern, who is set to compete against Democrat Rick Ryan, expressed her intent to implement policy changes. These would require "a strong legislature who will [stand] up to the CTU and those who do not want to focus on educational growth," she said.

"Tonight I had to renew my Virtus Training to substitute in a new school," said Shanahan McGovern, according to Facebook. "I want to point out how different this training is compared to the videos pushed by the CTU. Those videos are explaining why we keep the parents in the dark and push gender identity which is gender confusion vs safe boundaries and prevention of sexual abuse. I have policy changes that will push for common sense."

According to an April 2 report from Wirepoints, the Chicago Board of Education’s annual report for Fiscal Year 2023 includes more than 400 cases of sexual abuse, misconduct and grooming. The publication stated that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) "should be under the same extreme public pressure as the Catholic Church was when its own sex abuse scandals broke. There should be firings. A strict one-strike-and-you’re-out policy." Wirepoints drew attention to the 2018 reporting from the Chicago Tribune that initially shed light on this issue. The co-founders of Wirepoints, Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner, pointed out that CPS hasn't taken measures similar to those implemented by the Chicago Archdiocese in response to their scandal.

Screenshot of Christine Shanahan McGovern's April 16 Facebook post | Christine Shanahan McGovern for IL State Representative District 36 Facebook page

WTTW summarized the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) report in a January piece, emphasizing issues such as missing electronic devices - over 77,000 of them; criminal activity by employees – including an assistant principal charged with allegedly stealing $275,000; and "eight substantiated adult-on-student sexual assault" cases. According to a statement provided by CPS Inspector General Will Fletcher's office to WTTW: "During this period, the OIG received over 2,000 complaints of misconduct, waste, fraud, financial mismanagement, and adult-on-student sexual misconduct. The allegations ranged from relatively minor violations of Chicago Public Schools policies to criminal acts." WTTW reported that the OIG’s Sexual Allegations Unit (SAU) received 446 complaints during that time frame, with 67% "falling into a ‘nonsexual category’ regarding improper boundaries between staff and students, while the other 33% alleged sexual abuse, physical contact, sexual communications, or grooming." The OIG recommended enhancing vendor and volunteer training about sexual misconduct policies.

McGovern is the Republican candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives District 36. She ran an uncontested race in the Republican primary in March. Describing herself as a mother and business owner who is "committed to my community where I have lived in almost 29 years," on her campaign website, she also identifies as a small business owner.