Sunday, November 22, 2009

D.C. charter schools put out a call for protection - washingtonpost.com


D.C. charter schools put out a call for protection - washingtonpost.com:

"Principal Peggy Pendergrass heard it from a teacher who rushed in with the news: Three gang members were trying to force their way into Friendship Collegiate Academy, one more example of the violence that had plagued the high school in the weeks since classes started.

Her dean of security was at the door, wrestling with them as they tried to push into the building. After a struggle, the men gave up and retreated. By the time Pendergrass got to the walkway in front of the charter school in Northeast Washington, police were making arrests. But she wondered why charter schools, which enroll more than 38 percent of public school students in the city, don't get regular protection like that at traditional public schools, where about 100 officers walk the halls full time."