More Police, Less Social Workers in Schools

In the Pittsburgh Public School District, where my children attend, the 2012 budget for security personnel includes 25.9 more employees than the total budget for social workers and counselors.  

Hmmmmm……more security personnel than counselors and social workers combined?  

Here are the numbers for 59 Pittsburgh Public Schools: 

Counselor and Social Worker = 64.1 Employees35.4 Total Counselors (12.3 Elementary, 4.5 Middle, 18.6 Secondary)28.7 Total Social Workers (19.8 Elementary, 2 Middle, 6.9 Secondary)

Security Personnel = 90 Employees

The Pittsburgh Public School District, in their pursuit of safe environments for students and teachers, has allocated more personnel to police our children and less personnel to provide our children crucial social services and support.  

Pittsburgh is not alone.  

Kristin Schwam, in an article for the Dignity in Schools Campaign Students Aren't Criminals, They're Here to Learn writes,

Yet by keeping large numbers of police in school, and arresting students for typical childhood and adolescent behavior instead of addressing the issues that cause the behavior through counseling and other positive discipline practices, aren’t we telling them that they are criminals and therefore inherently bad?

The information I found on the Pittsburgh Public School website makes a connection between "safe schools" and the process for managing "offenders".   

In pursuit of safe schools, the School Safety Office investigates, apprehends and pursues the criminal prosecution of offenders both through the court system and through School District action. (emphasis mine)

Remember, these offenders are children…….

Highly Effective Teachers are Not Enough

Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Empowering Effective Teachers Program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hopes to increase student achievement by ensuring that there is a highly effective teacher in front of every student.

Others have noted that other factors create barriers for children to succeed in our public schools.  

This column by Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund highlights one such obstacle,

"Millions of children in America are denied the opportunity to receive a fair and high quality education. In March, the U.S. Department of Education released new information showing that children of color face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous course offerings, and are more often taught by lower paid and less experienced teachers."

Read the full column here: CHILD WATCH® COLUMN: "AMERICA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS: STILL UNEQUAL AND UNJUST"