At Kennedy High School, where an 18-year-old honor student was publicly beaten by classmates this week, students were so unnerved by the attack that they are asking for more security at their Chicago school.
“If someone gives you a dirty look, even accidentally, you can get punched in the face,” said Araceli Flores, a junior at the Garfield Ridge high school.
This is just the sort of obstacle to learning that lawmakers had in mind when they approved a little-publicized and, critics contend, highly ineffective provision of No Child Left Behind. Under the federal reform, states must identify schools that are “persistently dangerous” and students have the right to transfer out of them.
But even though Chicago school statistics show a 56 percent jump in violent crimes this year, Kennedy is not considered unsafe under the law.
In fact, not one of Illinois’ more than 4,200 schools is menacing enough to land on the state’s list of dangerous schools, even though many of them reported dozens of gang fights, teacher assaults and sexual harassment of students last year.
The story is much the same across the country: Of the more than 90,000 public schools nationwide, only 33 are considered dangerous, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The law allows states to define what constitutes a dangerous school. And in many states, including Illinois, the bar is set so high that schools could experience Columbine-like massacres several years in a row and still not be labeled unsafe.
“State and school districts are giving parents and students a false sense of security–making them think that schools are safer than they really are,” said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, a non-profit group that trains administrators in dealing with school violence. “I think there is something wrong when so many states fail to find a single school they consider dangerous. The law is good on its face, but the implementation of the law and its influence upon schools leaves a lot to be desired.”
In Illinois, a school lands on the unsafe schools list if it meets three criteria:
– More than 3 percent of students are expelled for violence-related activities in a school year.
– At least 3 percent transfer out of the school after being victims of violent crimes.
– At least one student is expelled for bringing a weapon to school.
Schools must meet all three standards for at least two straight years to land on the list.
Since the law was enacted in 2002, not one school in the state has met all three criteria for even one year.
During the 2003-04 school year, only six schools expelled more than 3 percent of their students for violent offenses, according to the most recent data from the Illinois State Board of Education, the agency charged with defining “persistently dangerous.” The state has not compiled data for last school year.
The law also allows students who are the victims of violent crimes to move to a safer campus. But no student in Illinois has used the law to transfer out, according to the state board.
The federal law suggests, but does not demand, that districts develop safety plans for dangerous schools. Even though Chicago does not have any schools on the list and overall school crime is down, district officials and police launched a plan in February to beef up patrols around crime-plagued schools.
Most states have criteria that are similar to Illinois’.
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Bill Modzeleski, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, argues that multiple-year requirements violate the spirit of the law. His agency has pushed states to relax their definitions.
“Basically, it comes down to a question of whether you want your son or daughter to have to wait two years before they can move out of a dangerous school,” Modzeleski said. “I think most parents would say one year is enough.”
State Board of Education officials would not speak to the Tribune but sent this e-mail response:
“Unfortunately, incidents of violence do happen. [The state board’s] programs are focused on upfront prevention, rather than simply facilitating transfer after violence occurs.”
The father of the boy attacked Thursday at Kennedy, 6325 W. 56th St., transferred his son out immediately, telling officials he did not feel safe sending his son back to the school. But for many parents, switching campuses is not so simple.
More than 25 percent of the state’s 878 districts are single-school districts, leaving parents no option. In urban areas, such as Chicago, violence is a problem at many schools, giving parents few good alternatives.
Millie Rodriguez of Wicker Park tried to move her son out of Wells High School after he was attacked in the hallway in November. Eddie Cruz, 17, was coming out of art class when a group of teenagers jumped him, he said, sending him to the emergency room with boot marks on his head and bruised ribs.
“I wanted him out of there because I was afraid for him,” Rodriguez said. “I was afraid someone was going to hurt him again, and I didn’t think it was a very good atmosphere for him to try and learn. No child should feel unsafe at school.”
Under No Child Left Behind, Cruz, the victim of a violent crime, can transfer out of Wells, at 936 N. Ashland Ave., which has seen a recent crime surge.
But Rodriguez could not find another nearby school for her son. She thought about moving him to Clemente High School at 1147 N. Western Ave., but it too has seen an increase in violence, according to Chicago Public Schools statistics. She ventured farther north, looking into Lane Technical High School, at 2501 W. Addison St., but said officials there told her that her son could not get in because his grades were not good enough. Entrance into Lane Tech is based, mainly, on test scores and grades.
“It’s unfair,” Rodriguez said. “You can’t just protect the kids who get A’s and let the rest of them get beaten up. I didn’t know about the law, but I doubt it was created to protect only the smart kids.”
Cruz is happy his mom could not transfer him. The easygoing junior said he likes his school and feels “safe enough.”
“When you grow up where I grow up, you learn to always watch your back,” Cruz said. “It’s no different in school. Besides, all my `boys’ are there, people I have known all my life. I want to stay with them.”
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