Education Trends and Updates

School Crime Falls

Crime in United States Schools fell sharply from 1992 to 2002 according to the federal Justice and Education Departments. School crime dropped to an annual rate of 24 violent incidents per 100,000 students. But in 2002 alone there were still 659,000 student victims of rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2003, 7 percent of students said they were bullied at school and 21 percent reported street gangs in their school. In 1999, 9 percent of teachers were threatened with injury by a student and 4 percent were physically attacked by a student.  

School Fights

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 7.2 percent of girls in grades 9-12 reported engaging in a physical fight on school property.  Boys reported 18 percent.

School Safety and Student Attendance

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one out of every 20 high school students skipped school at least one day because of safety concerns in 2003. That number is up from 4.4 percent in 1993. 

Phone Camera Ban?

Officials at the National Association of School Resource Officers calls cell phone cameras, "a major concern."  Schools and school districts are beginning to seriously consider the impacts of cameras at school.  According to the Consumer Electronics Association, camera phone sales grew from 1.2 million in 2001 to 6.3 million in 2003 and estimates sales to double in 2004 and triple in 2005.  Perhaps in a related story, the Freedonia Group reports that the electronic security market in the U.S. will increase 8.7 percent yearly through 2008 to $15.5 billion a year.  

Special Education

U.S. federal changes in the law governing our 6.5 million special education students was signed by President Bush early December 2004. The law according to Congressional representatives will reduce "red tape," and the sometimes adversarial relationship between parents and school districts. For example, parents will need to submit to mediation or other meetings to give school officials opportunities to resolve disputes.  Parents of special needs students will also have the burden of proof shifted to them to prove that their student's disability caused disruptive behavior.  The law also targets the disproportionate share of minority students tracked for special services.

Dressing to Express

The issue of student dress codes in the U.S. has once again become a challenge for schools.  Monetary damages were awarded this year to a student plaintiff in New York for wrongful removal of a T shirt at school.  Currently in Kansas City, a high school student filed a lawsuit over denial of his civil rights for wearing his T shirt.

NAACP Sues over Student Discipline

Disproportionate disciplining of minority students continues to be an issue in American schools. Recently the NAACP filed suit on behalf of 14 black students, ages 10 to 17.

Sexual Misconduct by School Employees

According to report by Hofstra University's School of Education, more than 4.5 million school children are forced to endure sexual misconduct by school employees from inappropriate comments to physical abuse. The best estimate is that almost one in 10 children, sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade, are targets of behavior ranging from unprofessional to criminal.

ATMs at School?

The Illinois-based Teen Research Unlimited surveyed 2,000 students and found that one in 200 had access to a cash machine at school. 

Police in Schools

A Texas police department uses wireless surveillance technology to monitor inside school buildings from a laptop in a police car. And a recent survey of 5,500 law enforcement agencies showed 32 percent of school resource officers carry stun guns at school.