Pittsburgh Law Enforcement: Dropout Rates Fueling Violent Crime
Feb 25th 2008
Pitsburgh, Penn.--Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan E. Harper, Allegheny County Sheriff William P. Mullen, and Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Robert E. Colville joined together for a press conference today in support of high-quality pre-kindergarten programs shown to increase high school graduation rates while cutting violent crime. They were accompanied by Superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools Mark Roosevelt, who said high school readiness starts in Pre-K. Pittsburgh currently serves 2,500 students in 101 early childhood classrooms.
They released a report by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids showing that by increasing graduation rates 10 percentage points, 150 murders and 5,900 assaults will be prevented in Pennsylvania every year. This includes 13 prevented murders and 320 prevented assaults in Pittsburgh each year. The new report, School or the Streets: Crime and Pennsylvania's Dropout Crisis, includes research showing that high-quality pre-kindergarten is the most effective strategy to increase graduation rates.
According to a long-term study following at-risk children through age 40 who attended the High/Scope Perry Preschool program in Ypsilanti, Michigan, children enrolled in the program were 44 percent more likely to graduate from high school than similar children randomly assigned not to participate.
"As our children head back to school, it's important to recognize that too many of them will leave our educational system without a high school diploma. Far too often, today's dropouts are tomorrow's criminals," Harper said. "Focusing on early education for young children will help ensure they can look forward to graduation and a good career, not a life of crime."
Research shows that high school dropouts are three-and-a-half times more likely than graduates to be arrested and eight times more likely to be incarcerated. In our nation's state prisons, 68 percent of all inmates failed to earn a high school diploma.
"If kids get a strong start early in life, we can cut our dropout rate and improve our communities," Mullen said. "To help more kids get that strong start, we need to fund high-quality pre-k programs so that all children who need them can participate."
"Pittsburgh Public Schools provide a comprehensive early childhood curriculum that aligns with Pennsylvania Standards," said Roosevelt. "All classrooms, regardless of the funding sources, are meeting the Head Start Performance Standards and providing the same services to children and families, including social services, health, nutrition, special services, parent involvement and education."
Overall in Pennsylvania, about 20 percent of students do not graduate on time. In Pittsburgh, approximately 35 percent of students fail to graduate in four years. "In addition to our commitment to Pre-K, our plans for high school reform include the addition of 6-12 school configurations to ease the transition to high school," said Roosevelt. "Because research has shown that schools that place an intense focus on 9th grade are amongst the highest performing schools across the country, and the ones that can reverse drop-out trends, we've created 9th Grade Nation, which encourages students to take ownership of their learning, graduate with a plan and be ready to take advantage of scholarships from The Pittsburgh Promise."
The law enforcement officials called on the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Congress to expand quality pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk kids.
Long-term benefits of quality pre-kindergarten programs include higher graduation rates, college enrollment and income levels, as well as significant reductions in crime.
The law enforcement leaders are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania, a statewide anti-crime organization made up of over 200 police chiefs, district attorneys, sheriffs, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors.
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