School Violence and No Child Left Behind: Best Practices to Keep Kids Safe

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Reason Foundation

Author(s): Lisa Snell

Research Area: Education; Social conditions

Type: Report

Abstract:

Parents want their children to be safe at school. While schools have often used external measures to counteract school violence, school policymakers don't always have the correct incentives to ensure that their schools are safe. The threat of reduced school enrollment and the right of students to exit an unsafe school is a powerful incentive to get schools to reduce crime. However, schools need transparency about the level of school crime so parents can help drive school-level change. School administrators have every incentive to under-report school crime. Legislators should require school districts to provide parents with more information about the safety of their schools and more choices for smaller and safer schools.