Adam's personal timeline, a place to collect and share things from Adam's life.
Created by cadamwren on Nov 9, 2009
Last updated: 03/11/10 at 10:16 PM
A group of students and their parents are suing Chicago Public Schools for what they say are lingering security concerns after the beating death of 16-year-old Fenger student Derrion Albert on Sept. 24.
Parents say the district hasn't followed through on promises to improve the school's safety.
The district says it's already doing everything it can to increase security.
For more coverage:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/wgntv-fenger-suit-nov10,0,2899765.story
In a Medill Reports exclusive, an employee of the Pennsylvania-based company that will provide jobs and mentors for 250 at-risk youth says the program could take months to roll out.
In other words, an immediate antidote to Chicago's youth violence program could be months away.
The centerpiece of Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman’s plan to quell youth violence across the city, praised by the New York Times, could be mired in start-up mode for months before it launches.
For more coverage:
Image: Fenger students near the school (Melissa Tussing/MEDILL)
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=145703
Sherell Williamson, 16, a student at Wendell Phillips Academy High School, was shot on his way home on a Sunday night.
To see Wendell Phillips Academy's Web site, click here:
http://www.phillips.cps.k12.il.us/
The New York Times endorsed Chicago Public Schools' CEO Ron Huberman's plan to provide the district's most at-risk youth with jobs and mentors. The endorsement appeared in a Nov. 5 editorial, "A Powerful Idea on Youth Violence."
The paper praised the plan for its ambitious approach to "offer mentoring, counseling and jobs to high-risk students."
Image: New York Times (via FLIKR)
To read the rest of the Times' endorsement, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/opinion/05thu2.html
Daley defends the quality of Fenger High School.
Medill Reports' Grant Slater asks students on Chicago's North Side how their lives change if all the fighting and school violence stopped.
(Credit: Grant Slater)
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=143383
Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis and CPS CEO Ron Huberman attend a summit focused on stemming a rising tide of youth violence on the city's West Side.
For more coverage:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7085611
Fed up with what they see as a lack of safety for their children, some parents at Christian Fenger Academy High School say efforts by CPS and Chicago police to prevent violence are wanting and are set to keep their children home from school.
For more coverage:
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/10/community-group-calls-for-fenger-boycott.html
The nearly $60 million in stimulus funding being used to pay for Chicago Public School's CEO Ron Huberman's plan to provide the district's most at-risk youth will disappear in 2010. Will it be replaced? If so, how?
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=142895
Though once identified by witnesses as one of the students responsible for Albert's death, Eugene Bailey, 18, was released from custody by Cook County prosecutors.
For more coverage from the Chicago Tribune:
"While the charge against Bailey was brought in good faith based on witness accounts and identifications, additional information has developed ... that warranted dismissal," said Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in a written statement.
Cook County State's Attorney's Office:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-derrion-albert-slayingoct20,0,6256148.story
Despite a seemingly rising tide of youth violence in 2009, Chicago Police Department statistics indicated a 14.5 percent decline in youth homicides through September compared with the same period last year.
Police said in an Oct. 14 press release that additional forces have been deployed "in an effort to ensure safe
commutes near school grounds [and] additional police have been deployed at crucial times of the
day."
See Chicago Police Department statistics on 2009 youth homicides year-to-date:
http://portal.chicagopolice.org/portal/page/portal/ClearPath/News/Statistical%20Reports/Index%20Crime%20Statistics/2009%20Index%20Crime%20Statistics/Sep09CS.pdf
The Rev. Jesse Jackson calls for the reopening of Carver Military High School to alleviate tension between rival factions of Fenger students.
After Derrion Albert's slaying captures national attention, President Barack Obama dispatches Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago.
Video Credit: Chicago Now
Trying to allay the fears and concerns of many, Duncan and Holder attempted to frame youth violence as a national problem, not a Chicago one.
“Youth violence is not a Chicago problem any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem,” Holder said. “It is something that affects communities big and small, and people of all races and all colors. It is an American problem.”
Duncan and Holder met with students from Fenger, school officials and community activists early Wednesday, Oct. 7 to begin what they called a national conversation on the topic.
For more coverage:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=141387
On the heels of Chicago Public Schools' CEO Ron Huberman's $30 million anti-youth violence plan, a flurry of policy proposals from other city policy makers came.
Among them was a plan proposed by Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart. Under her plan students prone to unruly classroom behavior would be transferred to an alternative school staffed by specially trained teachers and administrators.
“If we can spend $30 million on an anti-violence program,” Stewart said at a luncheon at the City Club of Chicago, “then we can find $2 million to start an alternative school for chronic classroom disrupters.”
Image: A flurry of policy proposals to quell youth violence came on the heels of the Fenger incident. Phillip Jackson, leader of the Black Star Project, opposes Huberman's policy of contracting with an out-of-state organization. He said his organization, located in Chicago, could accomplish the same objectives.
For more coverage of this event:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=140765
Almost one week after Derrion Albert's death, the rap artist Nas published an open letter in GlobalGrind.com, pleading with Chicago's youth to stop the violence.
Read hip-hop artist Nas' open letter to Chicago youth following Derrion Albert's beating.
http://globalgrind.com/content/1020340/Open-Letter-To-Young-Warriors-In-Chicago/
One day after the district secured board approval for a new plan to quell youth violence, 16-year-old CPS student Derrion Albert is beaten to death with railroad ties in a bloody melee as he made his way home from school.
The beating took place near Agape Community Center in Roseland (see map below).
The fight erupted between students from opposing neighborhoods, Altgeld Gardens and the Ville.
Video footage of the graphic episode spread virally across the Internet and coverage consumed vast portions of news reports across the nation.
In the image: State Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) greets Fenger High School Principal Elizabeth Dozier. (Kelsey Snell/MEDILL).
For background on the conflict between students from Altgeld Gardens and other students at Fenger High School, click below:
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=143467
After months of headlines trumpeting death after death of Chicago Public Schools' students, CPS CEO Ron Huberman proposes a plan that would provide about 250 of the district's most at-risk youth with jobs and mentors.
The Chicago Board of Education approves a $5 million agreement between CPS and Pennsylvania-based Youth Advocate Programs Inc. to provide wrap-around social services to those students and their parents.
According to the agreement, each Youth Advocate Program mentor will:
-Monitor each student's academic performance, attendance and in-school behavior.
-Meet with each student's parents to discuss their needs.
- Meet with each student's school principal weekly.
- Meet with each student at least 16 hours each week.
-The student-mentor ratio will not exceed 4 to 1.
See a copy of the agreement below:
http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/The_Board_of_Education/Documents/BoardActions/2009_09/09-0923-PR26.pdf
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