The DCPS gangs survey we didn't get a chance to see

Three columns last month about gang violence in D.C. public schools might leave the impression that I believe youth gangs are a recent development in the nation's capital ["Trouble Waits After Class Is Dismissed," Oct 3; "Talk Won't Stop a Predatory Gang," Oct. 10; and "Prayers Over Priorities in D.C.," Oct 24]. Would that it were true.

Youth gangs have been, and are, a deep and abiding problem. They reach into neighborhoods, classrooms, hospital emergency rooms and funeral homes. They damage our public education system, clog the courts and fill our juvenile detention centers. They serve as farm teams for the adult prison system.

Youth gangs, like the air, are always with us, at least in some parts of town. That is certainly true for our schools. No group should be more familiar with that harsh reality than the officials operating the D.C. public school system.

In fact, D.C. public schools officials should have the best insight into gang activity of any city agency, because the information was painstakingly documented in a research project conducted by a Rockville company, Westat, at the request of the Student Services Intervention Branch of DCPS.

The report, titled "District of Columbia Public Schools Gang Survey: 2003-04," surveyed students in each secondary public school in the District. Forty-four schools -- grades eight to 12 -- were asked to participate. In total, 42 (95 percent) of the eligible schools did so. More than 2,800 students completed the survey, which was administered by 12 field workers and individual classroom teachers. Students were instructed not to put their names on the questionnaire or answer sheet but were asked to include their home Zip codes on the response sheet.

Westat, which was paid more than $50,000, submitted the survey results and recommendations to DCPS in September 2004.

And then? Nothing, according to Westat Senior Study Director Joseph Hawkins, who served as the gang survey's project director.

Hawkins said that Westat was not asked to make a formal presentation to the school system or to any other D.C. agency. Neither did anyone in the school system invite Westat to discuss the findings.

The survey, as far as can be determined, was put on the shelf or stuck in a desk drawer somewhere.

D.C. Schools spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway, responding to my request for Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's views on the survey, wrote in an e-mail: "The 2003-04 Gang Survey predates our tenure, and we were not aware of its existence. As a result, the Office of Youth Engagement and the Office of School Security have not reviewed its findings."

I also asked Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells, who was on the school board in 2004, if he was aware of the report's existence.

Wells responded via e-mail: "Not that I can remember, but I am sure we discussed gang activity among the board. It did not seem gang activity was as prevalent in Wards 5 and 6 [represented by Wells on the board] as it was in the Western Wards of D.C."