NCLB Safety

Public school parents might be less than assured when they hear about the clarity with which the federal government defines safety under the No Child Left Behind law. “Schools have necessary features of both open and closed systems,” Dennis White, research and policy analyst at the Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community and Violence at The George Washington University, explains. “The intruder may be taking advantage of the open system features, for reasons— rational or not—we do not yet know.”

“With No Child Left Behind due for re-authorization in 2007, it is probably prudent to review state policies and definitions of a ‘persistently dangerous school’ and the Unsafe School Choice Option.”

The Harris Poll explains “the Unsafe School Choice Option” this way:

“This option is part of the No Child Left Behind Act and allows a student attending a persistently dangerous public school, as agreed upon by state and local agencies, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, while in or on the school grounds be allowed to transfer to a safe public school within the local educational agency.”

And how, exactly, would you find such a haven in say, Detroit?

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.