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Speeches
“I have to say, I’m concerned about this new school safety policy.
“I’m concerned that principals—the men and women who run these schools—aren’t being given adequate input or control.
“I’m concerned that this plan doesn’t address one of the root causes of school violence, overcrowding.
“I have visited some of the city’s most overcrowded schools – Franklin K. Lane , DeWitt Clinton, South Shore , Theodore Roosevelt - and seen the dangerous and overcrowded conditions the students, teachers and principals deal with.
“As a matter of fact, at several of these schools, an attack on a student occurred during my brief visit.
“But, most of all, I’m concerned that this plan is going to turn our schools into armed camps, that armed police officers are going to make tensions among students, teachers, and administrators even worse so learning becomes impossible.
“Just two days after the Mayor released the details of his plan, I read an article about Hillcrest High School in Queens . The principal there has cut violent incidents from 15 in 2001-2002 to 4 in 2002-2003 to none so far this year . And he’s done it even though the number of school safety officers in his school has decreased.
“The principal said he did it by making sure students followed the rules, parents knew how important discipline is, and teachers kept their students interested. Chancellor Klein has pointed to Hillcrest High as a model of school safety, even though the methods the school has implemented have nothing to do with this new plan.
“When Mayor Bloomberg says, “If need be, we’ll put a cop next to every kid,” I get nervous. That mentality will get us nowhere. It ignores the accomplishments of schools like Hillcrest High. It’s a one-size-fits-all policy, a bad policy. The majority of our schools do not have the kind of problems that call for these strong-arm tactics.”
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