Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Survey: Crime in 20 Pct of Schools > WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twenty percent of American middle > schools and high schools reported at least one serious > crime such as rape or robbery last year, according to a > national survey. > > Student crime is mostly in larger urban schools, > Thursday's report by the Department of Education > concluded. Indeed, it said 43 percent of public schools > surveyed reported zero crimes -- serious or minor -- in > the 1996-97 school year. Only crimes reported to police > were tabulated. > > President Clinton seized on the statistics to push his > education agenda. He urged Congress to pass a 1999 > budget that includes additional spending to hire 100,000 > teachers, modernize older school buildings and keep > schools open for youth activities after hours on the > schooldays. > > ``We do not need to -- and we must not ever have to -- > make a choice between safety and high standards, between > crime-free schools and modern classrooms,'' Clinton told > a White House ceremony attended by educators, law > enforcement officials and members of Congress. > > Clinton said he was troubled that the Education > Department survey estimated, based on data from a > 1,200-school sample, that public schools nationwide > experienced more than 11,000 fights in which weapons > were used, 4,000 rapes and other sexual assaults and > 7,000 robberies. > > ``The threat of such violence hangs over children's > heads and closes their minds to learning,'' Clinton > said. ``We cannot let violence, guns and drugs stand > between our children and the education they need.'' > > The survey on school crime was produced by the Education > Department's National Center for Education and > Statistics. The survey, based on responses from school > principals, counted only crimes reported to police at > schools, aboard schoolbuses or at school-sponsored > events. > > The elementary, middle and high schools surveyed were in > all 50 states and the District of Columbia. > > Herb Berg, superintendent of public schools in > Alexandria, Va., appeared at the White House ceremony > with Clinton to showcase his schools' efforts to counter > student crime. > > Berg said Alexandria's T.C. Williams High School uses > parents and grandpartent as hall monitors and a > well-communicated policy of ``zero tolerance'' of guns > and drugs. When the policy began three years ago, > student suspensions and expulsions went up, he said. > > ``But once the students realized the adults in their > lives were serious about this policy and commited to its > implimentation, a decline in the number of these > incidences occurred in the second year,'' Berg said. > Suspensions are down by 40 percent since the policy took > effect, he said. > > In response to the Education Department survey results, > Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate > Subcommittee on Youth Violence, echoed Clinton's call > for more action. > > ``Juvenile justice officials and schools must form > partnerships to remove young criminals from classrooms > and make them safer places for learning,'' Sessions said > in a statement. > > Clinton also announced $17.5 million in new financing > for school safety projects. The money, from the Justice > Department's community policing and school safety > program, will pay for anti-crime partnerships among law > enforcement agencies, schools and community groups. > > Among the survey's major findings: > > --Ten percent of schools reported at least one serious > violent crime during the last school year. Counting only > middle and high schools, the proportion in this category > rises to 20 percent. Elementary schools had far less of > a problem with student crime, especially violent crime. > > --Crime was more common at larger schools. One-third of > schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more reported at > least one serious violent crime, compared with 4 percent > to 9 percent in schools with fewer than 1,000 students. > > --Schools in cities were at least twice as likely to > report serious violent crime as those in towns and in > rural areas. > > --Crimes were more likely to occur in schools with the > highest proportion of minority students. Among schools > where at least half the students are minorities, 68 > percent reported crime, compared with 47 percent of > schools with less than 50 percent minority enrollment. > > --Principals rate absenteeism, tardiness and fights as > the most common discipline problems among pupils. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
