Interesting story on MSNBC by Martin Savidge tonight called: “Violent Crime Rates On The Rise Nationwide.” The gist of the story is:

“The latest preliminary FBI statistics show murders in the U.S. jumped 4.8 percent last year while overall violent crime was up 2.5 percent.
And in many communities the upsurge is attributed to juveniles.”

It goes on to explain that Homeland Security is stripping monies from HOMETOWN security. Mainly law enforcement and youth programs.

Experts say the solution is to return to what worked in the 1990s when crime rates plummeted.

“We need to go back to the hard work of crime control, cops and crime prevention, youth programs,” Menino says. “They work, but it takes time and money.”

As one law enforcement analyst put it, “Either we pay for programs now or pay for victims later.”

I’ve said for years that: The Choice Isn’t Whether To Spend The Money. It’s Whether You Want To Spend It On Education And Youth Programs Or On Crime and Unemployment.

UPDATE/AFTERTHOUGHT – I meant to note here that this also speaks volumes to making school more meaningful and engaging for more students. It doesn’t seem that 6 years of testing, testing, testing has accomplished that – or did I miss something?

Learning Is Messy!