Texas close behind N.J. for dangerous schools

[JayS]

Aug. 5, 2003, 10:31AM
Texas close behind N.J. for dangerous schools
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2028317


FORT WORTH - Six of Texas' 7,734 public schools have been identified as "persistently dangerous," and students there may be transferred to safer schools if they wish, state education officials said.

*SNIP*

Of the states that have released names of their dangerous schools, only New Jersey, with seven, has reported more than Texas.

The low number of schools, both statewide and nationally, reported as being dangerous has some school security experts concerned that the new federal law is causing education officials to hide problems rather than fix them.

"Principals are going to be thinking twice about reporting crime knowing that this label of `persistently dangerous' is hanging over their heads. That's the kiss of death to their career," said Kenneth Trump, executive director of the Ohio-based National School Safety and Security Services.

*SNIP*


TEA created this year's list to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind law, which was passed in 2002. It requires each state to define and to provide a list of persistently dangerous schools by the start of the 2003-04 school year.

Each state also was to develop a policy giving students who attend such schools -- or who have been victims of crime on campus -- the right to transfer to another school within the same district. TEA has asked the U.S. Department of Education if siblings of crime victims also can transfer to a safer school.

*SNIP*

[CO Liberal]

1. New Jersey Has More People, Texas Has More Guns

Are any of you reaching the same conclusion that I did?

[JayS]

2. Gun crimes or possession of a gun on school property is...

...fairly rare here. My cynical take on it is that the gang members drop out early. We do have a lot of problems with other weapons though. Just recently one young girl was stabbed to death in a crowded hallway by her ex-boyfriend...who was such bad news he should have never been in a regular school.

[Romulus]

3. here's how they got that number:

To receive the label, each reported at least three mandatory expulsions per 1,000 students for the school years beginning in 1999, 2000 and 2001, state officials said.

That's it. I went to elementary, middle, and high school in Texas. Sure there were bad kids, but it was easy to get suspended, too.

[TreadNot]

4. more people in Jersey?

Population of New Jersey = 8,414,350
Population of Texas = 20,851,820

Source: US Census

[CO Liberal]

5. My Mistake

NJ has a higher population DENSITY than Texas. And I'm sure Texas has a higher GUN density than New Jersey.

[schnellfeuer]

6. Texas has twice the population,

and in your words "gun density", and the PRNJ is #1. Why do you think that is?

[CO Liberal]

7. What is "PRNJ"???

?

[schnellfeuer]

8. The Peolples Republic of New Jersey

but of course! :)

We in PA consider the border to be the Delaware river. There was even a sign on one of the interstates on the PA side welcoming you to the USA. :) Signs on the Appalachian Trail on the PRNJ side as you cross the Water Gap at the river pretty much say it all. They read..
No Camping, No Fires, No Picnicking, No Pets, etc. At the base of every sign, someone wrote in marker....NO FUN. That pretty much sums it up. :)

[CO Liberal]

9. That's a National Rec Area

Don't blame the Garden State - blame the Dept of the Interior, especially head honcho Gale Norton, the second-worst thing to come out of Colorado after Focus On The Family.

[schnellfeuer]

10. I was refering to the Jersey part

of the trail, not the Federal reserve, which is actually on both sides. These were PRNJ signs. Speaking of the Feds and their parks, the Water Gap made the top ten 10 unsafe parks list. Its #8.

http://www.rangerfop.com/danger03.htm

[MrBenchley]

11. Wow...

Gun nut rhetoric in all its silliness.

[schnellfeuer]

12. Please do enlighten us

what "Gun nut rhetoric in all its silliness." might that be?

[TreadNot]

13. gun density

It is well known that guns are far more common in rural Anerica than in urban America, and yet the murder rate in urban America is far higher than in rural America.

Why is that?

A lot of people focus on guns, but it really seems to miss the point.