'Dangerous' Schools in New York Down to 19

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A total of 19 New York schools have been labeled ``persistently dangerous'' this year, down from 27 last year, said State Education Commissioner Richard Mills.

All but three are in New York City school districts, according to data released Wednesday. Those outside of the city were Schenectady High School, the Berkshire Farm school, a Columbia County facility for troubled youths, and the Little Flower School on Long Island.

EXTRA: List of Dangerous School in NYC

``With our 11 percent drop in felony crimes in schools, this good news is not surprising,'' New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a written statement. ``Our schools' safety agents, teachers and principals should be proud, but we will push to keep the progress going.''

In New York state, schools are considered persistently dangerous when they have had at least six violent incidents per 100 students enrolled, with each incident weighted for severity _ for at least two consecutive school years. Serious incidents include homicides, sex offenses, robberies, reckless endangerment, arson and possession or threatened use of weapons.

The listed schools must offer parents the right to transfer their children to safer schools in the district and will have to submit plans for reducing violence to the state. Under federal law, states are required to release their lists of dangerous schools at least two weeks before the school year starts.

The other 49 states last year reported 21 schools, collectively, as ``persistently dangerous.'' States set their own criteria for identifying schools, and New York school officials have said their standards are more rigorous.

Eleven of the New York schools categorized as persistently dangerous for the 2006-2007 school year were carried over from previous years, while eight new schools were added. Another 16 have successfully petitioned for removal from the list.

``There are far more schools across the state where the environment is unsafe and a hindrance to student learning,'' said B. Jason Brooks, of the New York Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability, a conservative think tank. ``The intent of the federal law was to allow students attending unsafe schools to transfer to safer environments.''

Education officials have enforced stricter accounting of the data the state's 4,422 schools provided under the federal ``No Child Left Behind Law'' for the past two years, Mills said.

``This fall we will audit safety reporting and will provide additional training statewide,'' he said. ``If we find errors, we will correct them. If we find underreporting, the list will get longer. Children must have safe schools.''