Chicago Public Schools announce plan to combat violence

[skyvolt2000]

I really want to see if this works...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-huberman-cps-violence-04sep04,0,7688668.story?page=2

Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman says he thinks he has found the 200 students most likely to end up shot and wants to connect them with full-time mentors and part-time jobs to push back a persistent tide of youth violence in city neighborhoods.

A number-crunching approach to a complex social problem marks one of the first major new programs by Huberman since Mayor Richard Daley appointed his top fix-it man to deal with a school system where shootings outside the classroom remain a vexing problem.

No one knows yet whether the $30 million effort can make a difference in a city that has seen its student death toll become a national embarrassment. But Huberman said he thinks his plan -- which also includes more money for training security guards -- can change the trajectory of teen violence in city neighborhoods.

"These kids have lots of sticks in their lives, and we want to work on the carrot approach," Huberman said Thursday during a presentation before the Tribune editorial board. "If we don't offer enough of a carrot to alter their lifestyle, they won't bite."

Last school year, 34 students were killed and another 290 shot on the streets of Chicago, the district said, despite a panoply of programs to decrease the violence. The previous school year, 23 students were killed and 211 shot, according to district totals. None was killed inside the schoolhouse walls, but Huberman said schools must take the lead in addressing the problem.

He spent months poring over reams of numbers from the last five years and found some intriguing patterns: About 80 percent of the shootings involved students at 38 of the district's 89 high schools. And schools with the lowest number of victims spent more money on social workers, counselors and training for security officers. These schools also were far less likely to call police when students fought or brought drugs and alcohol to campus.

Now that part I have questions on. I can think of some schools that don't have those items and are doing fine.

And some of those services should be already available at those schools via referrals through school staff.

Most don't know about it because they either don't ask or the school is unwilling to help.