School Reform Chicago-Style : Detention if you're white. Jail if you're black.
By Tracy Dell'Angela
Tribune staff reporter
December 13, 2005
More than 8,800 children were arrested at Chicago schools last year--a practice that disproportionately affects black students charged with typical teen misconduct such as fights and talking back to staff.
Fueled by these disparities, an advocacy group on Monday called on Chicago Public Schools to reveal which schools have the most arrests.
"I want an education, but all our zero-tolerance policies do is make me want to give up," said Raymond Collins, a 17-year-old student at Schurz High and a member of the Youth Council for the advocacy group Blocks Together. "Once they decide you're a bad student, ... they find ways to get rid of you."
Blocks Together, a West Side neighborhood group, decided to tackle the issue of student arrests based on student surveys in the North Garfield Park and West Humboldt neighborhoods, said youth organizer Martine Caverl. Students complained about overzealous security guards who escalate conflicts, she added.
"We were hearing about a lot of kids' getting arrested, but we couldn't get hard numbers," Caverl said.
A report released this spring by the Advancement Project offered the first glimpse of arrest trends in the Chicago system and two other urban districts.
The report concluded that the schools were criminalizing routine student misbehavior with a "take no prisoners" approach--punishing students with suspensions and a trip to the police station.
The "Schoolhouse to Jailhouse" report analyzed arrest numbers from 1999 to 2003, which showed that 75 percent of all children arrested over the five-year period were African-American though they make up 50 percent of the district's enrollment. The district is 38 percent Latinos, who account for 20 percent of arrests.
According to the most recent Chicago Police Department data provided to Chicago Public Schools, the numbers aren't getting better. In 2004, 8,845 students were arrested, 78 percent were black. About 10 percent of arrests were of children aged 12 and under.
The arrest statistics mirror overall district discipline numbers that show black students are disproportionately punished: Between 1999 and 2003, 84 percent of all elementary pupils suspended were black.
It's an issue district officials say they are trying to tackle, both by working with high-violence schools and exploring alternatives to arrests.
In October, board president Michael Scott convened a group of experts to talk about the growing outcry over discipline and arrests. Scott said then that schools face a difficult balancing act in trying to keep order in schools without overreacting to minor misbehavior.
While advocacy groups say the district hides arrest numbers, a schools spokesman said the district does not compile arrest statistics. The only information it has comes from the Police Department, said spokesman Mike Vaughn.
He added that the district does not have accurate school-by-school arrest records. Principals are supposed to file hand-written incident reports on every arrest, but he said such data are not reliable because not all principals comply with the requirement.
Next year a computerized student information system will include data about arrests.
"I'm not sure we have a handle yet on how big of a problem this is," Vaughn said. "We want to do a better job of keeping data on when police are called. We want to make sure our schools are not too quick to call police to get them involved in student discipline."
He added that the disproportionate numbers of black kids being disciplined remains "an area of concern for us."
David, a 16-year-old student attending a largely Latino school, believes he was targeted because he is black. David said he was quarreling and pushing with another student last year when a security officer intervened and threw David against the lockers.
David said he was suspended for 10 days, arrested on misdemeanor battery and assault charges, and hauled out of the school in handcuffs. The charge was dismissed, but he never stopped feeling like a target. He has since dropped out and is attending an alternative school.
"I felt kind of bad because my mom had to go to the police station," he said. "I guess they just don't want us in the school."
Tribune staff reporter
December 13, 2005
More than 8,800 children were arrested at Chicago schools last year--a practice that disproportionately affects black students charged with typical teen misconduct such as fights and talking back to staff.
Fueled by these disparities, an advocacy group on Monday called on Chicago Public Schools to reveal which schools have the most arrests.
"I want an education, but all our zero-tolerance policies do is make me want to give up," said Raymond Collins, a 17-year-old student at Schurz High and a member of the Youth Council for the advocacy group Blocks Together. "Once they decide you're a bad student, ... they find ways to get rid of you."
Blocks Together, a West Side neighborhood group, decided to tackle the issue of student arrests based on student surveys in the North Garfield Park and West Humboldt neighborhoods, said youth organizer Martine Caverl. Students complained about overzealous security guards who escalate conflicts, she added.
"We were hearing about a lot of kids' getting arrested, but we couldn't get hard numbers," Caverl said.
A report released this spring by the Advancement Project offered the first glimpse of arrest trends in the Chicago system and two other urban districts.
The report concluded that the schools were criminalizing routine student misbehavior with a "take no prisoners" approach--punishing students with suspensions and a trip to the police station.
The "Schoolhouse to Jailhouse" report analyzed arrest numbers from 1999 to 2003, which showed that 75 percent of all children arrested over the five-year period were African-American though they make up 50 percent of the district's enrollment. The district is 38 percent Latinos, who account for 20 percent of arrests.
According to the most recent Chicago Police Department data provided to Chicago Public Schools, the numbers aren't getting better. In 2004, 8,845 students were arrested, 78 percent were black. About 10 percent of arrests were of children aged 12 and under.
The arrest statistics mirror overall district discipline numbers that show black students are disproportionately punished: Between 1999 and 2003, 84 percent of all elementary pupils suspended were black.
It's an issue district officials say they are trying to tackle, both by working with high-violence schools and exploring alternatives to arrests.
In October, board president Michael Scott convened a group of experts to talk about the growing outcry over discipline and arrests. Scott said then that schools face a difficult balancing act in trying to keep order in schools without overreacting to minor misbehavior.
While advocacy groups say the district hides arrest numbers, a schools spokesman said the district does not compile arrest statistics. The only information it has comes from the Police Department, said spokesman Mike Vaughn.
He added that the district does not have accurate school-by-school arrest records. Principals are supposed to file hand-written incident reports on every arrest, but he said such data are not reliable because not all principals comply with the requirement.
Next year a computerized student information system will include data about arrests.
"I'm not sure we have a handle yet on how big of a problem this is," Vaughn said. "We want to do a better job of keeping data on when police are called. We want to make sure our schools are not too quick to call police to get them involved in student discipline."
He added that the disproportionate numbers of black kids being disciplined remains "an area of concern for us."
David, a 16-year-old student attending a largely Latino school, believes he was targeted because he is black. David said he was quarreling and pushing with another student last year when a security officer intervened and threw David against the lockers.
David said he was suspended for 10 days, arrested on misdemeanor battery and assault charges, and hauled out of the school in handcuffs. The charge was dismissed, but he never stopped feeling like a target. He has since dropped out and is attending an alternative school.
"I felt kind of bad because my mom had to go to the police station," he said. "I guess they just don't want us in the school."
posted by Fred Klonsky at 12/14/2005
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