The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Schools targeted for inclusion in the Impact Schools initiative were selected by the NYPD and the DOE for their higher than average number of criminal incidents, transfers of students due to safety violations, and what the DOE terms "early warning problems" such as low school attendance and disorderly behavior. The Impact Schools initiative currently stations two hundred armed police officers, security cameras and metal detectors in twenty two of New York City¹s "high crime" public schools.

Based on an analysis of the 2003-2004 Annual School Reports released by the Department of Education, this report concludes that, as a group, the Impact Schools were more overcrowded than the average city high school, were far larger than most city high schools, received less funding per student for direct services, had more students overage for their grade, and served a student body that was disproportionately comprised of poor and black students as compared to the average New York City public high school.

"Our report finds Impact Schools suffering, with less support for added challenges. It raises the question of whether our children and their teachers will truly ever be safe until we address these profound inequities,² said Andrea Batista Schlesinger, DMI Executive Director.

According to the report, prior to the initiative¹s instatement, Impact Schools were more overcrowded and less adequately funded than their counterparts. Spending for individual students in New York schools rose $1,217 from 2002-2003 while students in Impact Schools received a mere $609 increase in student spending.

Additionally, while the average city high school operated at 105.9% capacity during the 2003-2004 school year the average Impact School was at 111% capacity. Schools like Christopher Columbus HS and Walton HS were at more than 180% capacity.

The report also shows that poor students of color comprised a disproportionately higher percentage of the student body at the 22 Impact Schools than at other schools. More than sixty percent of students at the 22 Impact Schools are living in or near poverty, compared to 53.9% of city high school students in other New York schools. As well, the number of entering 9th and 10th graders that are overage for their grade at the 22 Impact Schools is 44% higher than at other New York City schools. Nearly forty percent of entering 9th and 10th graders at the city's 22 Impact Schools are overage for their grade, compared to just 27.5% of entering 9th and 10th graders citywide.

³The Impact Schools initiative has invited an unprecedented expansion of the criminal justice system into our schools,² said Kate Kyung Ji Rhee, DMI fellow and director of the Prison Moratorium Project. ³By the time they reach high school, many of these students have already experienced difficult academic obstacles which require additional educational resources; we should not use criminal justice strategies to solve an educational problem.²

DMI is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to challenging the tired orthodoxies of both the right and the left. The goal: public policy for social and economic fairness. DMI¹s approach is unwavering: We seek to change policy by conducting research into overlooked, but important issues, by leveraging our strategic relationships to engage policymakers and opinion leaders in our work, and by offering platforms to amplify the ideas of those who work for social and economic fairness. For more information, visit www.drummajorinstitute.org

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