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Education reform is a public safety issue. A good education is one of the most fundamental
crime-prevention tools available. Kids who stay in school and graduate are more likely to
become productive citizens, and less likely to turn to crime.
However, California suffers from high dropout rates. One out of every three high school
students does not graduate from high school, which in turn threatens public safety. Across
the country, 68 percent of state prison inmates did not receive a high school diploma.
Researchers studying the relationship between graduation and crime concluded that a
ten-percentage point increase in graduation rates would reduce murder and assault rates by
about 20 percent. This means that increasing graduation rates in California from 67 percent
to 77 percent would result in approximately 500 fewer murders and over 20,000 fewer
aggravated assaults each year.
As you move forward in designing your reform proposal, we encourage you to consider the
following:
Specifically:
There is an urgent need to act now to reform education in California.
Every day, more kids drop out of school, and follow a path that too often leads to crime. If we act now, we can keep
more kids in school and our streets safer. We look forward to working with you to help ensure that 2008 is the year
of education reform.
Rigorous research demonstrates that certain reforms—including high-quality preschool and smaller learning
communities—can improve graduation rates
Education reform should begin before a child enters kindergarten. Effective preschool is one of the most effective
ways to get kids on the right path to graduation and success in life. Evidence from two long-term rigorous evaluations
of the effects of preschool also shows that high-quality preschool increases high school graduation rates by as much as
44 percent, while also cutting crime. A recent analysis from UC Santa Barbara’s California Dropout Research Project
concluded that the High/Scope Perry Preschool program would yield 19 extra high school graduates for every
100 students served, and the Child-Parent Centers in Chicago would yield 11 extra high school graduates for every
100 students served.
Ensuring access to effective preschool, particularly for low-income children and children who are English language
learners, is critical to education reform. In addition, in order to ensure that preschool programs improve student
achievement, the state should:
• Strengthen the skills of preschool teachers and provide adequate compensation to attract and retain
effective teachers;
• Strongly incentivize parental involvement; and
• Screen children for child abuse and neglect and developmental problems and then provide linkages to
services.
Investing in small learning communities at middle schools and high schools with individualized monitoring and support
also boosts graduation rates significantly. For example, First Things First targets middle school and high school kids,
and consists of three major components: 1) small learning communities (a “school within a school”); 2) family advocates
paired with each student to monitor and assist in their progress; and 3) instructional improvement. Research shows this
model yields 16 extra high school graduates for every 100 participating students.
Other strategies—including dropout prevention and after-school programs— have strong potential to increase
graduation rates
Investing in dropout prevention programs for middle schools and high school students is also critical. For example,
Check & Connect uses monitors to ‘check’ that high-risk middle and high school students are in school, then they
‘connect’ the students to needed services with the help of school personnel, family members, and community service
providers. One study found that 12th grade students in Check & Connect were 33 percent less likely to drop out of school
than students not in the program. Another study found that 9th grade students not in the program were three times more
likely to drop out.
As you know, after-school programs have potential to increase attendance, reduce dropouts and improve graduation rates.
For example, Blair High School in Pasadena offers “credit reclamation” classes after school to students who need core
curriculum credits in order to graduate. The program has been so successful that the school graduation rate was at 92%
in June 2005—the highest it has been in 20 years. In fact, 30% of graduates at Blair High School were able to graduate
only because of the credit reclamation program.
FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS is proud to have had the opportunity to work closely with you in passing and implementing
Proposition 49. To ensure the continued success of Proposition 49, this state-funded program, like school-age child care
programs and many state-supported education programs, should be guaranteed a cost-of-living adjustment, so schools
continue to have sufficient funding to provide effective programs in the years ahead.
California needs a comprehensive student data system to keep track of who is graduating and who is dropping out.
Thanks to your signing of SB 219, schools will now be required to collect dropout rates and include them in the Academic
Performance Index. Only if graduation and dropout rates are effectively measured, can we identify which schools are,
or are not, succeeding at engaging struggling students, and then encourage implementation of the best practices.
We appreciate your strong support for funding of the California Pupil Achievement Data System. A properly funded data
collection system is necessary to ensure effective tracking of individual students, and we encourage you to continue to
make this a high priority.
Research-based education reform can both help students succeed and substantially improve public safety. We appreciate
your consideration of these priorities and we look forwarding to working with you to ensure that 2008 is the year of
meaningful education reform.
Sincerely,
Chief Jack Van Etten Chief Jay Varney Chief Brian Vizzusi
Burlingame Police Department Chowchilla Police Department Lincoln Police Department
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Hon. Gerald Benito Hon. Edward Berberian Hon. Robert Brown
Shasta County D.A. Marin County D.A. Mariposa County D.A.