SCHOOLS IN CRISIS

 WHEREAS, the needs of students and schools, as outlined in the resolution on Children in Crisis, are growing in number and complexity each day; and

WHEREAS, the situation is exacerbated by underfunding for education and other services for children by the federal government as well as at the state and local levels; and

WHEREAS, excessive amounts of federal education funds are inappropriately spent on bureaucratic and/or out-of-classroom positions that do not directly serve students; and

WHEREAS, 4.7 million documented immigrants entered the United States between 1982 and 1989, and the 1986 Immigrant Reform and Control Act granted amnesty to an additional 1.3 million undocumented immigrants; and

WHEREAS, the majority of those entering this country are youth and young families with children; and

WHEREAS, these families most often settle in urban areas; and

WHEREAS, public schools in urban areas have opened their doors to all children and their parents in the tradition of public education in the United States; and

WHEREAS, school systems in urban areas are already struggling to deal with "children in crisis" at the same time as their budgets and funding are inadequate to meet the need; and

WHEREAS, urban school systems are also beset with unprecedented levels of violent crime that have threatened the safety and well-being of children and staff in and around schools; and

WHEREAS, the education of all students and their parents is suffering as beleaguered school districts try to cope with the very real needs of current and incoming students and their families; and

WHEREAS, in this crisis, adults in homes and in schools must collaborate in the nurturing of children; and

WHEREAS, schools must be able to focus on meaningful instruction and learning and not on violence, the breakdown of discipline, bureaucratic waste, intergroup conflict and other harmful situations that have become all too prevalent:

RESOLVED, that in addition to the action agenda outlined in the resolution on 'Children in Crisis,' the American Federation of Teachers will work to

• ensure that federal funds go into direct services for students in Chapter 1, Title VII, Education for All Handicapped Children Act and other programs by placing a cap (of no more than 10%) on out-of-classroom administrative services and targeting maximum federal, state and local funds to the needs outlined above; and

•  obtain a $500 million component to Chapter 1 that will deal exclusively with parent education, parent-teacher-staff interaction and emerging staff development needs related to the issues in this resolution; and

• obtain special additional allocations under Chapter 1, Title VII and other appropriate existing federal programs to deal in a significant manner with the diverse and increasing needs of the hundreds of thousands of newly arrived students in schools throughout the United States [with a concentration factor for those metropolitan areas that are particularly affected], thereby reducing the fiscal burden placed on these school systems in meeting the needs of already enrolled and incoming students; and

• obtain a new component to Chapter 1 that will help to refocus the priorities of public schools on instruction and learning by supporting programs for conflict resolution, peer mediation and other effects to restore discipline to and eliminate violence from our schools.