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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, June 22, 2006

More than 2,500 students caught with firearms at school

Advertiser Staff and News Services

A total of 2,554 students were expelled for bringing a firearm to school in the 2001-2002 school year. The Gun-Free Schools Act requires that each state or outlying area receiving federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act have a law that requires all local educational agencies to expel for at least one year any student found bringing a firearm to school. Here's how those expulsions break down:

  • Grade level: Fifty-seven percent of the expulsions were students in high school, 30 percent were in junior high and 13 percent were in elementary school.

  • Type of gun: Fifty percent of the expulsions were for bringing a handgun to school; 38 percent were for some other type of weapon such as bombs or grenades or starter pistols; and 12 percent were for bringing a rifle or shotgun to school.

  • Penalty reduced: Thirty-seven percent of expulsions were shortened to less than one year.

    Source: U.S. Department of Education

    EDUCATION FACT

    The number of bachelor's degrees awarded increased by 33 percent between1989-'90 and 2003-'04, while the number of associate's degrees increased by 46 percent.

    Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

    ON THE WEB

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    Go to: http://pbskids.org/wayback/prez/