Dive Brief:
- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Commission for a Safe Chicago has unveiled a 2015 action plan that maps out 28 recommendations for curbing youth violence.
- Among the suggestions: resolving conflicts and helping families find counseling via "peace rooms" in eight Chicago Public Schools.
- According to the report, 60% of homicide victims in Chicago over the past five years have been people age 29 or younger.
Dive Insight:
Emanuel wants this latest release to be serve "not just as another report [but as] a call to action," according to WBEZ. violence.
The violence that plagues Chicago today is the same trouble the city has dealt with for years, and also something Arne Duncan attempted to address while serving as superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. Duncan, who was open to discussing the issues of youth violence, had various suggestions for tackling the issue, including a pipe dream of bringing more community schools to the city. In March 2009, he told Charlie Rose, "I think schools should be open 12, 13, 14 hours a week...seven days a week." The problem, however, with community schools is that they're expensive. That year, there were 152 community schools in Chicago, out of more than 600 schools.
Duncan's vision for community schools being the solution to city violence seemed to skirt around bigger issues like poverty. Having students avoid their home life isn't sustainable or necessarily fair. It also asks a great deal from the teachers, who are suddenly expected not just to be an educator but a parent figure as well.
Hopefully, Emanuel's plan is more easily implemented.