After Chicago Teen's Violent Death, White House Tries to Mitigate School Violence

Oct. 7, 2009— -- The White House has decided to intervene after a national uproar over cell phone video showing a 16-year-old student, Derrion Albert, being bludgeoned and stomped to death at Fenger High School in Chicago by four other teenagers.

"This is a line in the sand and we have to get dramatically better," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who spoke today at Chicago City Hall with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Duncan announced the Education Department plans to award a $500,000 grant, funded by the School Emergency Response to Violence program, to help Fenger High School restore a peaceful learning environment. Among other things, the money will fund safe transportation for students to and from school and increased student support programs.

"Heartbreaking," said Duncan, "that it takes capturing a death on video to wake the country."

The honor student's Sept. 24 death outraged many in Chicago, but is only the latest of a number of high-profile cases of fatal high school violence in the city. In each of the last two years, Chicago has lost the equivalent of an entire classroom to instances of school violence. In one, a 5-year-old boy in kindergarten was maimed for life.

Duncan warned there was no quick fix.

"This is not about the money. Money alone will never solve this problem. It's about our values," Duncan said. "It's about who we are as a society. And it's about taking responsibility for our young people, to teach them what they need to know to live side-by-side and deal with their differences without anger or violence."