Chicago’s new chief officer of public schools hopes $60 million and statistical analysis can reduce murders of public school students in the city, according to The New York Times. The NYT reports that Ron Huberman hopes to shift the focus from security efforts to prediction and prevention:

Financed by federal stimulus grants for two years, the $60 million plan uses a formula gleaned from an analysis of more than 500 students who were shot over the last several years to predict the characteristics of potential future victims, including when and where they might be attacked. While other big city school districts, including New York, have tried to focus security efforts on preventing violence, this plan goes further by identifying the most vulnerable students and saturating them with adult attention, including giving each of them a paid job and a local advocate who would be on call for support 24 hours a day.

From the study of the 500 shootings, Mr. Huberman said, officials know that deadly violent outbursts are not truly random. The students at highest risk of violence, by statistics, are most likely to be black, male, without a stable living environment, in special education, skipping an average of 42 percent of school days at neighborhood and alternative schools, and having a record of in-school behavioral flare-ups that is about eight times higher than the average student.

I love reading these kinds of stories. Not because of the bleak current picture, where we see people’s lives being determined on the basis of race and income. But because of the daring, crazy people out there who are still idealists, and who are working toward their ideals. Whether Mr. Huberman becomes the hero Chicago officials are hoping he may be remains to be seen, but I do feel lighter just knowing he’s going to try: “’We believe that if we can change the behavior of these 10,000 students,’ Mr. Huberman said, ‘we’ll be able to make a significant difference in the level of violence in the city.’”