FUZZY ON SCHOOL CRIME

All indications are that school systems in North Carolina are working
hard to decrease violence and drug use in the schoolhouse. Yet the
state's annual report on crime in its 115 school districts shows a 15
percent increase in incidents last year compared to the year before.
It's troubling that the 9,800 crimes and acts of violence statewide in
2003-2004 are the second highest since the crime report was first
released, following the 1993-94 school year. The rate of crime, in
fact, surpasses the state's enrollment growth.

Educators at the state and local levels express surprise at the
increase. And they can't explain the jump in weapons and drugs brought
onto campuses, bomb threats, assaults on school personnel and other
incidents that rattle teachers and disrupt the learning for whole
classrooms and sometimes schools. They theorized that schools may have
gotten better at reporting crimes, or that better security -- metal
detectors, more police in school halls -- may be uncovering more and
more violators.

The stats may be correct, but they seem counterintuitive and thus
raise doubts about the reliability of the report. That's unfair to
students and families, who need to understand the state of danger or
safety in schools, and the reasons for it. Such things should be a
learning tool for administrators and everyone else involved with the
schools.

So, it is in the interest of public education for administrators to
decipher last year's findings and explain the real meaning of them to
a public that still is in worry mode.