Fast Report
08/22/06 -- CDC: Fewer students sexually active
• Fewer high school students are having sex and the ones who do are less likely to have multiple partners and are more likely to use a condom, according to an Aug. 10 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One aim of the 2005 study was to determine the extent to which U.S. students were at risk from HIV or other behavior-related illnesses.
• 46.8 percent of students said they engaged in sexual intercourse in 2005, down form 54.1 percent in 1991.
• 14.3 percent of students said they have had multiple partners, defined as sex with four different people during one’s lifetime, in 2005, compared to18.7 percent in 1991.
• 62.8 percent of students surveyed in 2005 said they used a condom the last time they had intercourse, compared to 46.2 percent in 1991.
According to the report: “During 1995-2005, the percentage of U.S. high school students who ever inject drugs remained less than 4 percent. However, many students still engage in HIV-related behaviors.”
Clinton launches Healthy Schools Program
• Former President Bill Clinton officially launched the Healthy Schools Program July 21 at the first-ever Alliance for a Healthy Generation Healthy Schools Forum, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation.
More than 200 schools from 12 states will receive hands-on technical support to help them assess their environment, develop school action plans, and implement a series of changes that will make their schools healthier.
In the pilot year, the program is focusing on schools whose students are most at risk for obesity.
By implementing the program first in schools with a high risk of obesity among children, and testing it in the most challenging school environments, program organizers expect it will achieve long-term success in all schools.
“The schools that are taking part in the first year of the program will help us write the lesson plan to improve health for millions of children,” said Lisa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is funding the program.
Schools nationwide can apply for recognition and receive online tools and resources, by visiting www.HealthierGeneration.org.
More male graduates would boost economy
• A 5-percent increase in the number of males who receive a high school diploma could mean significant crime-related savings and higher earnings for the United States, according to a new study by the Alliance for Excellent Education.
The study, funded by the MetLife Foundation, identifies this prime example of the impact of education on the economy.
Projections based on current data indicate that an increase of male graduates in the country could potentially reduce its arrest rate and the prison population, resulting in an annual savings of almost $5 billion.
This new population of secondary school graduates would, in turn, increase their earning power, adding an annual $2.8 billion in wages to the nation’s revenue.
Statistically, high school dropouts are more likely to be arrested and convicted than those who have graduated. The financial impact is high, and includes expenses related to incarceration, property loss, and victim costs.
Chicago schools lose desegregation rules
• Chicago Public Schools was released from a long list of desegregation budget and reporting requirements by U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras Aug. 14, but the district’s not totally free yet.
“The current demographic makeup of Chicago and its student population bears virtually no resemblance to that which gave rise to litigation between the parties in the first instance,” Kocoras wrote.
School officials called the new decree a victory; others say the judge’s ruling is too vague.
In 1980, when the order was first put into effect, the percent of white students in the school system was 17 percent; currently it is 9 percent, making systemwide dese- gregation virtually impossible, the judge said.
The city was ordered to spend nearly $100 million a year on desegregation efforts, including providing additional educational service for children in racially isolated schools.
Because the school district is already committed to spending more than triple that amount, the new agreement requires school officials to maintain as many schools with desegregated student enrollments as practicable, but it no longer specifies a dollar amount that must be spent.
The judge added a provision requiring CPS to “use its best efforts” to maintain a pool of qualified principal applicants who are as racially and ethnically diverse as practicable.
Kocoras refused to automatically dissolve the deal, as district officials had hoped. The school district must file motions next June in order to be freed from the remaining oversight.
“This is positive for us,” said CPS General Council Patrick Rocks. “This returns our budget to local control.”