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Jennifer Smith Richards

I pursue stories about abuses of power — often focusing on schools and education — and stories about private businesses throughout the Midwest.

Need to Get in Touch?

Tips about government and business, particularly in the Midwest, are welcome. I’m also eager to hear from educators and government officials. I want to connect with parents and students experiencing the administration’s policy changes.

What I Cover

My stories focus on abuses by powerful government institutions. Right now, I am reporting on how the Trump administration is reshaping the federal government’s role in schools and education — and what that means for young people. I’m especially interested in shifts in the way students’ civil rights are monitored and enforced at school.

My Background

I began my journalism career writing obituaries in West Virginia, then covering small-town southern Ohio. I’ve written about schools and education at newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia; Utica, New York; Savannah, Georgia; and Columbus, Ohio. Most recently, I worked for the Chicago Tribune, where my work exposed the practice of police issuing tickets to students at school, abusive educators, government misspending, sexual abuse in schools, lapses in police accountability and the mistreatment of students with disabilities. My stories have prompted new state laws, the prosecution of school officials and the creation of child-protection units in school districts and state education departments.

I’m a graduate of Ohio University and I live in Chicago.

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois Will Investigate Possible Civil Rights Violations in Student Ticketing

The Illinois attorney general’s office said it is trying to determine if a suburban Chicago school district violated students’ civil rights when police ticketed them for minor misbehavior.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois Will Stop Helping Cities Collect Some School Ticket Debt From Students

Since a Chicago Tribune-ProPublica investigation, school officials say they’re reevaluating when to involve law enforcement in student discipline.

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

The Price Kids Pay

Black Students in Illinois Are Far More Likely to Be Ticketed by Police for School Behavior Than White Students

Federal data has shown Illinois schools suspend and expel Black students at disproportionate rates. Now we know it’s happening with tickets and fines, too.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, photography by Armando L. Sanchez, Chicago Tribune, illustrations by Laila Milevski,

The Price Kids Pay

Illinois’ Education Chief Urges Schools to Stop Working With Police to Ticket Students for Misbehavior

Responding to a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation, Illinois’ schools superintendent says ticketing students hurts children and their families.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Price Kids Pay

Do Police Give Students Tickets in Your Illinois School District?

Do police in your Illinois school district give students tickets for truancy, vaping, fighting or other violations of local ordinances? Search our interactive database to find out.

by Ruth Talbot, ProPublica, Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Quiet Rooms

Illinois Dramatically Limits Use of Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Schools

A new bill will ban school workers from locking children in seclusion spaces and limit most uses of isolated timeout and physical restraint. A ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation found widespread abuse of the practices in Illinois.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Quiet Rooms

Illinois Continued to Seclude and Restrain Students This Year Even Though Many Schools Were Closed

Even during the coronavirus pandemic with limited in-person learning, staff at Illinois schools secluded and restrained students more than 15,000 times during the 2020-21 school year, new data shows.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Quiet Rooms

Bill Banning Locked Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Illinois Schools Stalls as Lawmakers Run Out of Time

Illinois lawmakers pledge to try again to prohibit what one called “horrific and barbaric” methods of controlling students.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,

The Quiet Rooms

National Ban on School Use of Seclusion and Restraint of Students Introduced in Congress

Congressional Democrats introduced legislation to ban schools from using physical restraints that can restrict students’ breathing, and from using isolated timeout. ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune last year revealed the harms of these practices.

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

The Quiet Rooms

New Data Shows the Use of Seclusion and Restraint Increased in Illinois Schools During the 2017–18 School Year

As lawmakers prepare to debate a statewide ban on seclusion and restraint, Illinois schools reported using seclusion — the practice of forcibly isolating a student in a small room or other space — at least 10,776 times in the 2017–18 school year.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica,