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

Racial disparities in ticketing are part of a pattern at schools across the state, an investigation by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune has found.

Illinois law bans schools from fining students. So local police are doing it for them, issuing thousands of tickets a year for truancy, vaping, fights and other misconduct. Children are then thrown into a legal system designed for adults.