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THE CHICAGO GOSSIP
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THE CHICAGO GOSSIP
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Kathy PosnerLast week, Chicago Public school students rallied, asking for changes in the disciplinary policy at schools, and the amount spent on policing at schools. In response, I decided to look at the history of security at public schools.
In 1988, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Chicago School Reform Act, which authorized Mayor Richard M. Daley to take control of Chicago’s crisis-riddled education system. The history of police protection and metal detectors in Chicago Public schools first started as a result of this act.
In February 1988, the Chicago Board of Education adopted a policy that gave principals, local school councils, and the Board’s Bureau of Safety and Security the authority to install metal detectors and to use sniff dogs to find drugs, weapons, and drug paraphernalia in public schools. The policy said only off-duty police officers could monitor the detectors or handle the sniff dogs. On October 25, 1989, Reverend Jesse Jackson, in a speech at Harper High School, called for detectors to be installed in the wake of the stabbing death of a student on Oct. 11th.
The Chicago Tribune reported at the time that 15th Ward Alderman Marlene Carter said intended to introduce an ordinance at the upcoming City Council meeting. She wants to place detectors at EVERY entrance of all 540 of the city’s elementary and high schools. “We must do all we can to put an end to narco-terrorism,” Carter decried. Carter admitted that she had no idea what the detectors would cost, but added, “What would a child’s life cost over a lifetime? Tell me if it’s cheaper to kill off all our children.” This is a cheap shot that has been overused by politicians as long as I can remember… “It’s for the children’s sake! A vote against my idea means you must hate children!” Sound at all familiar?
Interim school board member Joseph Reed responded with, “The parents in a school have to make the decision. They’re the best people to judge. The assignment of a cost to protecting life has to be a secondary problem.”
In June 1992, the Chicago Tribune reported, “Mayor Richard Daley began offering metal detectors to the city’s embattled high schools in hopes that modern technology can help keep guns, knives, ice picks and murder out of the classroom.” The policy was finally implemented on November 26, 1992 when 45 alderman of the Chicago City Council voted to pass a resolution urging schools to install metal detectors.
Since then, violence between gang members and innocent children have continued to be a problem in all areas of the city. According to the Chicago Tribune, CPS spent 15 times more on school-based security guards last year than on college and career counselors. While I agree that safety is of utmost importance to our children, this figure speaks volumes.
Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), a Chicago student advocacy group, rallied last week at CPS headquarters, protesting that school disciplinary policies have become too strict. They demand that the schools’ disciplinary policies be rewritten.
WBEZ reported, “The gist of the zero tolerance policy is that CPS students can get suspended or expelled if they ‘seriously disrupt the orderly educational process.’ What ‘seriously disrupting’ means is up to teachers' and schools' discretion, but in theory the policy is designed to keep schools safe from violence and drugs.”
The VOYCE report, which was a year-long collaboration between that organization and The Advancement Project, a civil rights group, made such recommendations to the CPS Board as:
--Eliminate regulations that call for suspensions for minor offenses that do not threaten student safety, like tardiness, bringing a cell phone to school or violating dress code.
--Replace some out-of-school suspensions of up to 10 days with in-school suspensions of no more than three days (plus academic and other assistance).
--Require principals to get district approval for suspensions of over five days, to ensure district-wide uniformity.
My take on this is very simple. If the students spent as much time studying in school as they did working on a year-long project of what they think is wrong with the disciplinary policies at CPS, the graduation rate would be higher. They should just shut up and read.
Read more from Kathy Posner Here....
In 1988, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Chicago School Reform Act, which authorized Mayor Richard M. Daley to take control of Chicago’s crisis-riddled education system. The history of police protection and metal detectors in Chicago Public schools first started as a result of this act.
In February 1988, the Chicago Board of Education adopted a policy that gave principals, local school councils, and the Board’s Bureau of Safety and Security the authority to install metal detectors and to use sniff dogs to find drugs, weapons, and drug paraphernalia in public schools. The policy said only off-duty police officers could monitor the detectors or handle the sniff dogs. On October 25, 1989, Reverend Jesse Jackson, in a speech at Harper High School, called for detectors to be installed in the wake of the stabbing death of a student on Oct. 11th.
The Chicago Tribune reported at the time that 15th Ward Alderman Marlene Carter said intended to introduce an ordinance at the upcoming City Council meeting. She wants to place detectors at EVERY entrance of all 540 of the city’s elementary and high schools. “We must do all we can to put an end to narco-terrorism,” Carter decried. Carter admitted that she had no idea what the detectors would cost, but added, “What would a child’s life cost over a lifetime? Tell me if it’s cheaper to kill off all our children.” This is a cheap shot that has been overused by politicians as long as I can remember… “It’s for the children’s sake! A vote against my idea means you must hate children!” Sound at all familiar?
Interim school board member Joseph Reed responded with, “The parents in a school have to make the decision. They’re the best people to judge. The assignment of a cost to protecting life has to be a secondary problem.”
In June 1992, the Chicago Tribune reported, “Mayor Richard Daley began offering metal detectors to the city’s embattled high schools in hopes that modern technology can help keep guns, knives, ice picks and murder out of the classroom.” The policy was finally implemented on November 26, 1992 when 45 alderman of the Chicago City Council voted to pass a resolution urging schools to install metal detectors.
Since then, violence between gang members and innocent children have continued to be a problem in all areas of the city. According to the Chicago Tribune, CPS spent 15 times more on school-based security guards last year than on college and career counselors. While I agree that safety is of utmost importance to our children, this figure speaks volumes.
Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), a Chicago student advocacy group, rallied last week at CPS headquarters, protesting that school disciplinary policies have become too strict. They demand that the schools’ disciplinary policies be rewritten.
WBEZ reported, “The gist of the zero tolerance policy is that CPS students can get suspended or expelled if they ‘seriously disrupt the orderly educational process.’ What ‘seriously disrupting’ means is up to teachers' and schools' discretion, but in theory the policy is designed to keep schools safe from violence and drugs.”
The VOYCE report, which was a year-long collaboration between that organization and The Advancement Project, a civil rights group, made such recommendations to the CPS Board as:
--Eliminate regulations that call for suspensions for minor offenses that do not threaten student safety, like tardiness, bringing a cell phone to school or violating dress code.
--Replace some out-of-school suspensions of up to 10 days with in-school suspensions of no more than three days (plus academic and other assistance).
--Require principals to get district approval for suspensions of over five days, to ensure district-wide uniformity.
My take on this is very simple. If the students spent as much time studying in school as they did working on a year-long project of what they think is wrong with the disciplinary policies at CPS, the graduation rate would be higher. They should just shut up and read.
Read more from Kathy Posner Here....
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