A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      Contact:  David Frank      June 11, 1996                                        (202) 401-3026

Statement by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley Regarding School-Associated Violent Deaths

One violent death in schools each year is too many -- 50 a year is a terrible tragedy. The findings published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association clearly demonstrate that we must persist in efforts to make schools a safe haven for youth.

Firearms are responsible for more than three quarters of all the deaths that occur in and around schools, and this survey confirms the urgent need to get guns out of the hands of young people and out of our schools.

We have worked to make schools safer through passage of the Gun-Free Schools Act, which requires states to ensure that students who bring guns to school are expelled. And we have strengthened our support for local drug and violence prevention programs in schools through the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. The President is requesting an increase in the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program budget for next school year.

The disturbing number of violent deaths in and around schools underscores that we must continue to give parents and schools the support, tools and knowledge they need to work with their communities to curb violence.