Numbers may not lie, but when it comes to reported incidents of violence in public schools it depends on which set of books you’re looking at.
That after two two conflicting reports on school violence were released today – one from Mayor Bill de Blasio showing the 2015-16 school year to be the safest in history and one from charter advocacy group, Families for Excellent Schools (FES) showing that it was the most dangerous in history.
According to the de Blasio report there was an 18 percent decrease in major crime since the 2014-15 school year. The NYPD also shared safety data showing that the number of school-based arrests and summons in schools has continued to decrease.
“All students need a safe and supportive learning environment to succeed in the classroom and make a positive impact in the community. Thanks to the hard work of the NYPD and the Department of Education, families can rest assured that our school buildings are safe places,” said de Blasio. “The impacts of our investments in school climate and mental health programs are clear: crime is at an all-time low and graduation is at an all-time high.”
According to the mayor’s report, which he put out with the NYPD and the Department of Education, the administration’s school climate reforms have improved safety in schools while using school discipline programs that are fairer and more effective. There has been a large decline in schools designated by the State Education Department as “persistently dangerous.” When comparing the 2015 to 2017 school year, only two NYC public schools now retain that designation down from 27, according to the mayor.
According to the city’s data, there has been an 8 percent decrease in school-related arrests and a 11 percent decrease in the number of summonses issued by the School Safety Division during the 2016-17 school year compared to the 2015-2016 school year.
But FES CEO Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of Families for Excellent Schools, citing a state report that finds that the crisis of school violence has worsened every year for three consecutive years.
The report, which uses New York State data, is in direct contradiction of the Mayor’s claim that the 2016-2017 school year was the safest school year on record, and instead shows that city public schools experienced 16,851 violent incidents during the 2015-16 school year – a six percent increase from the 2014-2015 school year, more than any other year on record.
“Contrary to what Mayor de Blasio would have families believe, state data clearly shows that schools are less safe than ever before. Failing to report 10,000 violent incidents covers up a crisis of this Administration’s own making,” said Kittredge.
Overall, the new report reveals that school violence has increased by a total of 30 percent since the Mayor took office.
When asked to respond to the state report, a DOE spokesperson bounced back the original release that they sent out earlier with the same quotes.
