This week, a high school teacher sued the city, claiming that a rough schedule filled with rowdy freshman was going to send him to an early grave. But that teacher should be counting his lucky stars, since it could have been even worse: last year, there were 1,124 student arrests by safety officers around the city.
And in the first two months of this school year, there have already been 286 arrests, according to data released to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Students and parents testified today in support of the **Student Safety Act, legislation that is meant to pull back the curtain on NYPD activity and Department of Education suspension practices in the citys schools. Critics say that many problems stem from the fact that safety agents are trained in street policing, not conflict resolution; officials point to the fact that violent crimes in schools have dropped by 39 percent since 2000.
Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped horrible incidents from still taking place.
**Make the Road New York (MRNY) has long supported the approval of the Student Safety Act.