Racial violence in Los Angeles' public schools

Naush Boghossian:

Hate crimes in Los Angeles' public schools have surged more than 300 percent over the past decade -- the highest growth rate of all campus crimes, fueling concerns about racial tensions in the nation's second-largest school district.
Nearly all of the 52 hate crimes reported in the 2003-04 school year were racially motivated, up from 12 in 1995-96, according to the latest figures available from Los Angeles Unified School District police.

In recent months, officials have continued to grapple with race-related issues, including a spate of high-profile campus brawls at Jefferson and Taft high schools and an e-mailed threat of race-related gang violence that kept hundreds of kids out of dozens of schools.

While some civic leaders fear that the tensions could spread into the broader community, school officials say it is simply a reflection of stresses that already exist in the community.

"It's always been there, but schools are getting more diverse and ethnic tensions are growing and we have to deal with it. But there's so much ethnic conflict in the city. If we don't get together and talk about this in a responsible way, we're going to be the lesser for it," said Sheila Roth, student cabinet adviser at Taft High School, where fights in May prompted a massive police response and a campus lockdown.

"And, what do you expect when you throw 3,700 kids in a school designed for 2,400?"

Officials note that it's not just race-related incidents that are increasing. According to LAUSD crime statistics, weapons possessions rose 18 percent in the last three years, to 646 in 2003-04; robbery/extortion arrests rose 35 percent, to 345 last year; loitering/trespassing arrests increased by nearly 26 percent to 545.

District officials attribute the increases partly to better reporting. But they also have moved to make school safety a priority.

"I think there are some ethnic and cultural tensions, and those emanate in the community, oftentimes in the homes. It's a school's job to do the best they can to defuse that kind of attitude and that's what we have to work on and we have to work on it with other agencies," said LAUSD's Chief Operating Officer Dan Isaacs.

"Our schools are much safer than the communities in which they rest, but we want to address the issues that occur in society and oftentimes spill over into our schools."

Superintendent Roy Romer has authorized $3.7 million over three years to increase school police staff by 30, and $4.3 million to add more than 130 safety aides to assist with supervision programs at secondary schools.

The district is working on a systemwide discipline policy and has established "safe zones" around some schools to combat gang violence. Efforts also are set for elementary and middle schools, where the district wants to teach students about cultural and ethnic sensitivities and how to resolve disputes better.

LAUSD reflects a national trend of rising campus violence, said Delbert Elliott, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.

There were 48 reported school deaths -- including suicide and homicide -- in 2003-04 -- the highest number ever recorded, Elliott said. That compared with 17 in 2001-02 and 16 in 2002-03.

The number of students involved and injured in fights also is up, as well as students being threatened or injured by a weapon.

"It looks like we're seeing a reversal of trends. We saw a bottoming out in 2001, but there's not only more homicides, more fights, more injury, and carrying a weapon is going back up again," Elliott said. "The evidence is pretty clear that we're seeing escalating levels of violence at elementary and secondary schools. So something's going on that's creating very, very high rates of very serious violence."

Overcrowding and increasingly diverse campuses are seen as key factors for the rising tensions, according to parents, teachers and students.

The national average of students per teacher and counselor is 16 but in many LAUSD schools it's more than 25 students per teacher, said John Rogers, associate director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.

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