Says Schools Lowball It: UFT Starts System To Record Violence

Says Schools Lowball It
UFT Starts System To Record Violence

Dissatisfied with the accuracy of reports on the level of violence in city schools, the United Federation of Teachers last week introduced an on-line reporting system for those victimized.

RANDI WEINGARTEN: 'Schools underreport.' "The penalty stakes are too high for administrators to report too many incidents," UFT leader Randi Weingarten said. "No one wants to be held accountable for reporting big numbers, so they find ways to underreport. The underreporting then undercuts the ability to make schools safe."

Klein: 'Report Them All'

But Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein reiterated his belief that "schools report all infractions - from the most minor to the most serious," in a Sept. 12 letter to Principals. "We, as a system, cannot afford to tolerate schools' failure to report incidents. We need to know which schools are keeping students and educators safe and which ones are not."

The Department of Education pointed to a drop of nine percent in "major crimes" and 12 percent in "total school violence" during the 2005-06 school year as proof of progress.

But the UFT cited a State Education Department report that listed 250 percent fewer reported incidents in the city schools than in Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse. That discrepancy led both the SED and City Comptroller William C. Thompson to initiate audits of the city's reporting, the union said.

"Accurate reporting is the first step in creating a safe environment in every school so the children who want to learn can learn," the UFT leader said. "Members and the students they teach have a right to be safe, but that right is not self-enforcing."

Some Suppressed?

The union said that incidents including a Teacher at a Bronx high school injuring her back after being deliberately tripped by a student, a paraprofessional being struck in the head with a bowling ball by a student at a District 75 site in Elmhurst, and a middle-school Teacher in Forest Hills receiving a shock from a stun gun-like toy wielded by a student were reported, but that many others were not.

Chancellor Klein said that the numbers speak for themselves.

"Our schools are still not 100 percent safe," he said. "I still hear terrible stories about fighting, about bullying, about injuries, about weapons. But on the whole, our 1,400 schools and 1.1 million students have become significantly safer as a result of the hard work and vigilance of everyone in our community."

In addition to the online reporting, which is available on the union Web site, the UFT said other options for Teachers concerned that incidents may go unrecorded include informing the school chapter leader, calling the nearest UFT borough office, or faxing an incident report to the union at 212-677-6612.