Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

CDF Violence Prevention, 10.18.04

Oct 12, 2004

CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND VIOLENCE PREVENTION LISTSERV
October 8th, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE:
--In the News - Opportunity gap between rich and poor students widens
--Federal Update - House seeks to override DC gun ban
--In the States - No swing-set left behind? Under pressure from
high-stakes tests, educators in Washington State ban recess.
--Research & Resources - Black students not culturally biased against
academic achievement
--Get Involved! -Hear Marian Wright Edelman discuss "Children Can't
Vote. You Can."; Join the Movement to Leave No Child Behind?®

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IN THE NEWS

OPPORTUNITY GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR STUDENTS WIDENS

The education spending gap between poor and wealthy students is
widening, a new report from the Education Trust finds. In 36 states,
the highest-poverty school districts received less money than the
lowest-poverty districts when the extra cost of educating low-income
students is accounted for. Nationwide, the disparity exceeds $1,300 per
student. Making schools accountable for reaching high standards is an
important and necessary aspect of closing the achievement gap between
White students and those from low-income and minority communities.
However, as this report shows, more is required. "Closing these gaps
demands that state policymakers give poor and minority students more of
everything that we know students need: challenging curriculum,
qualified
teachers, high expectations, regular assessments to ensure all children
are learning - and yes, money," said Kati Haycock, director of The
Education Trust.

View the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/06/education/06gap.html (registration
required)

View the report:
http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/30B3C1B3-3DA6-4809-AFB9-2DAACF11CF88/0/funding2004.pdf



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FEDERAL UPDATE

CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND CONDEMNS REPEAL OF D.C. GUN BAN BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) expressed outrage at the U.S. House
of Representatives for passing a bill on September 28th that would
repeal the gun safety laws of Washington, D.C., even as children
continue dying from gunfire on the city's streets. Sponsors of the
legislation seek to end the District of Columbia's 28-year-old ban on
handguns, its prohibition on assault weapons, and registration
requirements for rifles and shotguns. The vote was 250 to 171. The gun
ban was enacted by locally elected officials in 1976 and has enjoyed
strong citywide support ever since.

To learn more, visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60034-2004Sep29.html
(registration required)

Read the CDF release,
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/040929b.asp

To take action, visit: http://www.csgv.org

US HOUSE POISED TO APPOINT IDEA CONFEREES

The House will likely appoint conferees for the IDEA conference today
or early next week. It appears that approximately eight members of the
Committee on Education and the Workforce will be joined by a
representative of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Energy and Commerce to form the Conference Committee. Members of these
additional House Committees are required because of provisions in the
Senate bill addressing issues outside of the jurisdiction of the
Education and the Workforce Committee that are related to legal issues
and Medicaid. If conferees complete their work before the end of the
year and the President signs the bill, the IDEA reauthorization will be
finished and there will be a new law to implement. This outcome
appears
increasingly likely.

Monitor developments at: http://edworkforce.house.gov/index.htm


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IN THE STATES

KENTUCKY

A Kentucky state school board committee recommended the passage of a
GED program yesterday, that would be accessible to struggling students
while they still are in high school. The theory behind the proposed
program is that schools can provide assistance in taking the GED test
to
students who are planning to drop out anyway. After a student drops
out,
that assistance isn't available, said Dorie Combs, the chairwoman of
the
state Board of Education's curriculum committee, which recommended the
program. Combs said state superintendents and principals "are ready to
open the doors and help kids who are ready for this program."

View the article, http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/9855406.htm

WASHINGTON

The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that students achieve certain
scores on state-administrated, high-stakes tests every year. Failure
to
meet the yearly score targets can have serious consequences for schools
and children, including a loss of funding. The pressure placed on
teachers, administrators, and students to achieve on these single,
high-stakes tests are therefore enormous. Reports have found that in
many instances the pressure has resulted in a narrowing of curriculum,
and a renewed focus on rote-memorization. Many schools have eliminated
art and music classes, and cut down on electives. In Washington State,
the high-stakes testing craze eliminated what might be considered a
scared component of an elementary school day: recess. Tacoma School
District Assistant Superintendent Karyn Clarke explained the decision
to
outlaw recess this way "If we want students learning to high standards,
we need them in the classroom, not the playground."

View the story,
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002050724_harvey01.html


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RESEARCH AND RESOURCES

DISPROPORTIONATE MINORITY CONFINEMENT: 2002 UPDATE

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has
announced the availability of "Disproportionate Minority Confinement:
2002 Update." Although minority youth account for one-third of the
U.S.
juvenile population, they comprise two- thirds of the
detention/corrections population. Disproportionate minority
confinement
(DMC) has tremendous consequences for the juvenile offenders and for
society as a whole. The OJJDP Summary describes developments in
addressing DMC at the national, state and local levels. The brief
addresses the latest data concerning DMC and national efforts by OJJDP
and others during the past five years to address the problem. In
addition, the brief presents an update of state activities, including a
status report on state compliance with the DMC core requirements and an
outline of remaining challenges.

View the report at,
http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/Publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11816.
For full- text publications, information on OJJDP or JJC, and other
juvenile justice matters, visit the OJJDP Web site at
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp/

BLACK STUDENTS NOT CULTURALLY BIASED AGAINST ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
According to a new study by Duke University Professor William "Sandy"
Darity Jr., most black students do not carry a cultural bias against
high achievement into the classroom. His conclusions, based on
research
conducted in North Carolina from 2000 to 2001, show that instead that
an
anti-achievement attitude develops over time and is most likely to
occur
in schools where blacks are grossly underrepresented in the most
challenging courses. Darity's findings sharply contradict the commonly
help belief that black students are culturally inclined against
academic
success partially because they fear being ostracized by peers who
equate
doing well in school with "acting white." Indeed, race-related
pressure to avoid or disparage academic challenges did not exist at the
elementary grades, the research showed. Rather, researchers found that
adolescents in North Carolina harbor a general sentiment against high
academic achievement, regardless of race.

View the report at:
http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/people/faculty/darity/SAN04-03.pdf

GOVERNMENT AGENCY FINDS FAULT WITH NCLB ACT

A recent study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress'
nonpartisan, investigative arm, faults the way the Department of
Education is tracking states' implementation of key provisions of the
No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). One of the biggest problems the GAO
found
was that while the Department is requiring states to increase
assessments, it has not established a written plan that clearly
identified the steps required, interim goals, review schedules, and
timelines. Without such written plans, the report finds, states may be
challenged to meet the NCLB requirements on time.

NMHA GUIDE: "MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FOR YOUTH IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE
SYSTEM"

The National Mental Health Association has recently published a guide
called Mental Health Treatment for Youth in the Juvenile Justice
System:
A Compendium of Promising Practices. NMHA created the guide to assist
community leaders, advocates and family members with addressing the
complex mental health problems of children and adolescents in America's
juvenile justice system. The free guide features current
evidence-based
practices that are highly effective in reducing recidivism rates and
state-of-the-art treatments designed to account for the individual
needs
of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. This study is
extremely useful since 60 to 75 percent of incarcerated youth have a
mental health disorder and 20 percent have a severe disorder.

View the guide at, www.nmha.org/children/justjuv/index.cfm.

View the report, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04734.pdf

"JUVENILE ARRESTS 2002"
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has
announced the availability of "Justice Arrests 2002." The twelve page
bulletin provides a summary and an analysis of national and state
juvenile arrest data found in the FBI report "Crime in the United
States
2002." The bulletin reports that the juvenile violent crime arrest
rate
in 2002 reached its lowest level since 1980. The juvenile arrest rate
for offenses tracked in the FBI's Violent Crime Index (e.g. murder,
forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault) has declined steadily
since the mid-1990s. The rate for murder has fallen 72% from its 1993
peak through 2002.

View the report at,
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11822.

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GET INVOLVED

Join the Audio Conference Call for Children with Marian Wright
Edelman
Tuesday, October 12th o 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (EST)
Call: 1-800-496-4518 o Passcode: 330304

"This is a nation and century defining time"
-Marian Wright Edelman

At this critical time for children, we are hosting a conference call to
share our get-out-the-vote message on behalf of children in these final
weeks before the most important election of our time.

Through this voter empowerment effort, CDF is working to:
?· increase voting among traditionally underrepresented citizens;
?· help new registrants understand the importance of voting;
?· ensure voters prioritize the critical issues and needs of all our
children at the polls; and
?· pass these lessons along to the next generation during the 2004
election cycle and beyond by
encouraging voters to bring their children to the polls.

America's children need you!

For more information about the get-out-the-vote campaign, call our
toll-free hotline at
1-866-274-9654

LIGHTS ON AFTERSCHOOL!

On October 14, 2004 the Afterschool Alliance is having an annual rally
for after school programs. The nationwide celebration will commemorate
the after school programs that keep children safe, improve academic
achievement and provide assistance to working families. After school
programs across the country will celebrate the day by having town hall
meetings and rallies. Elected officials, media and other people will
be
invited to these events so that they can witness Afterschool Alliance's
efforts first hand.

Register your event, learn about events that have taken place in the
past or access artwork and event planning tools by clicking on Lights
On
at www.afterschoolalliance.org. People who register will receive email
updates and ten free posters to advertise Lights On Afterschool!


JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND?®
ENCOURAGE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CO-SPONSOR/ENDORSE THE ACT TO LEAVE
NO CHILD BEHIND
On February 12, 2003, Representative Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and
Senator George Miller (D-CA) re-introduced the Act to Leave No Child
Behind (S. 448/H.R. 936) in the U.S. Congress. This important
comprehensive federal legislation sets forth a major children's agenda
that combines the best ideas and proposals to improve the lives of
children. Among the policy objectives in the 12 titles of the Act is
legislation to: encourage positive youth development activities for all
young people; advance efforts to reduce juvenile delinquency and
support
youth in the juvenile justice system; and promote responsible gun
legislation to prevent youths' access to firearms.

Since its introduction in this session of Congress, 15 Senators and 96
Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the Act to Leave No
Child Behind. Please visit the CDF Action Council site at
http://www.cdfactioncouncil.org/theact/cosponsors108th.pdf to see if
your Senators and Representative are co-sponsors of this very important
legislation for children. If they are not listed as co-sponsors, please
send them a message asking them to sign on! An adaptable message is
available for you to send at
http://capwiz.com/cdf/issues/alert/?alertid=34813&type=CO

Additionally, it is important for state legislators to support this
legislation as a way to underscore the support for children in the
states. We need advocates to e-mail their state legislators and
encourage them to sponsor the re-introduced Act to Leave No Child
Behind
so they can play a role in moving this vital piece of federal
legislation. Visit
http://capwiz.com/cdf/issues/alert/?alertid=88158&type=ST to send a
message to your own state legislators!