For Immediate Release

UFT calls for comprehensive solution to school violence

Mar 28, 2008 7:36 PM

After a week in which the NYPD locked down schools twice and a student was critically stabbed in a hallway of a school despite scanners to keep out weapons, UFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:

“This has been a bad week for school safety, and the alarming stabbing of a student at Robeson High School is a tragedy that must serve as a wake-up call. Our prayers are with the student and his family for his full recovery. But prayer is not enough, and as this most recent incident proves, scanning is neither a panacea, nor is it infallible – which is why putting complete responsibility upon the NYPD to keep every school free of guns and knives is not the comprehensive solution we need. Unfortunately, we know ways can be found to get weapons past metal detectors and into schools. We are calling upon all stakeholders to take proactive steps and work together immediately to address the larger issues that lead to violence. Toward this end, I have reached out to the city to meet on this as soon as possible. More has to be done because we have to make certain that schools are safe for the students who attend them and the educators who work in them.”