Almost 50% of all black males are arrested before the age of 23 (1 Viewer)

[LinusMarr]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

Get the numbers for those who were actually convicted of a crime, not just arrested and get back to us.

Don't have those, but that's got to be pretty high too. Per the article, our prison population is higher than any other developed nation.

But even beyond that, the arrest ratios may suggest a systemic bias.

Seriously? If anything, those numbers disprove a systemic bias by race.

If you are young and dumb, jimmy-jacking around committing crimes then you NEED to get your rear end in jail. Race plays no factor! I am an equal opportunity lock up the felon kinda guy...

 

[Mjolnirs]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

From 2010 Census data 49% of the US population is male. 72.4 are white only, 12.6 are black only, and 16.3 are hispanic

So:

White males = 72.4% x 49% x 40% = 14.2% of the population

Black males = 12.6% x 49% x 49% = 3% of the population

Hispanic males = 16.3% x 49% x 44% = 3.5% of the population

Leave those white kids alone!

 

[TobiasFunke]

Crime linked to poverty - longitudinal study that shows racial invariance

http://www88.homepage.villanova.edu/lance.hannon/Forthcoming%20in%20the%20Journal%20of%20Poverty.pdf

Poverty, not race, tied to high crime rates in urban neighborhoods

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/badcomm.htm

If poverty is the best indicator of crime, then why isn't there a higher crime rate per capita in America's poorest counties?

1 Buffalo County, South Dakota $5,213

2 Shannon County, South Dakota $6,286

3 Starr County, Texas $7,069

4 Ziebach County, South Dakota $7,463

5 Todd County, South Dakota $7,714

6 Sioux County, North Dakota $7,731

7 Corson County, South Dakota $8,615

8 Wade Hampton, Alaska $8,717

9 Maverick County, Texas $8,758

From: List of lowest income counties in the United States

Those all look like sparsely populated areas where there might not be many opportunities for crimes and nobody might notice if you committed one.

O.K., how about this densely populated, impoverished area then...

During the 1960s, one neighborhood in San Francisco had the lowest income, the highest unemployment rate, the highest proportion of families with incomes under $4,000 per year, the least educational attainment, the highest tuberculosis rate, the highest proportion of substandard housing of any area of the city.

That neighborhood was called Chinatown. Yet in 1965, there were only five persons of Chinese ancestry committed to prison in the entire state of California.

The Chinese were for many years denied access to public schools of California, not allowed to testify against whites in trials, and made the object of discriminatory taxation.

The experience of the Chinese and Japanese suggests that social isolation, substandard living conditions, and general poverty are not invariably associated with high crime rates among racially distinct groups.

From: Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime

It's possible that many crimes in this area go unreported; law enforcement has been know to advise others to simply "forget it."

 

[Zow]

Decriminalization is, of course, the other big issue here. 40% of ALL males is way too big a number. Coming from a nice, white, upper middle class neighborhood, I knew very few people growing up who were ever arrested.

Arrested /= convicted

 

[Warrior]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

Stop breaking the law?

 

[Thunderlips]

Crime linked to poverty - longitudinal study that shows racial invariance

http://www88.homepage.villanova.edu/lance.hannon/Forthcoming%20in%20the%20Journal%20of%20Poverty.pdf

Poverty, not race, tied to high crime rates in urban neighborhoods

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/badcomm.htm

If poverty is the best indicator of crime, then why isn't there a higher crime rate per capita in America's poorest counties?

1 Buffalo County, South Dakota $5,213

2 Shannon County, South Dakota $6,286

3 Starr County, Texas $7,069

4 Ziebach County, South Dakota $7,463

5 Todd County, South Dakota $7,714

6 Sioux County, North Dakota $7,731

7 Corson County, South Dakota $8,615

8 Wade Hampton, Alaska $8,717

9 Maverick County, Texas $8,758

From: List of lowest income counties in the United States

Those all look like sparsely populated areas where there might not be many opportunities for crimes and nobody might notice if you committed one.

O.K., how about this densely populated, impoverished area then...

During the 1960s, one neighborhood in San Francisco had the lowest income, the highest unemployment rate, the highest proportion of families with incomes under $4,000 per year, the least educational attainment, the highest tuberculosis rate, the highest proportion of substandard housing of any area of the city.

That neighborhood was called Chinatown. Yet in 1965, there were only five persons of Chinese ancestry committed to prison in the entire state of California.

The Chinese were for many years denied access to public schools of California, not allowed to testify against whites in trials, and made the object of discriminatory taxation.

The experience of the Chinese and Japanese suggests that social isolation, substandard living conditions, and general poverty are not invariably associated with high crime rates among racially distinct groups.

From: Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime

I don't think that's a great example. Don't those guys usually not go to the police and instead have a kung fu fight in a back alley or go to an underground bunker where an old school Crimelord doles out justice?

 

[Thunderlips]

OMG!!!!! Men of most races are rambuctious and do stupid ####!.....RUN FOR THE HILLS MA BARKER!

 

[mr roboto]

Which neighborhood would you fell less safe living?

Poor black

Poor white

Poor Hispanic

Poor Asian

Middle class black

Middle class white

Middle class Hispanic

Middle class Asian

Rich black

Rich white

Rich Hispabic

Rich Asian

I'd feel equally unsafe in poor black, white. Next would be poor Hispanic, then Asian. I don't know why. I grew up around some very poor white folks and some nasty #### can go down. Maybe I have a rosy image of poor Hispanic and Asian as some kind of hard-working immigrant population who are less prone to crime.

Does this make me racist?

 

[17seconds]

I was arrested for trespassing at 17 because I hopped the wrong fence.

Let's look at what they are arrested for.

 

[Wrigley]

What do you want done, even things out?

I'm sorry, you're free to go, we're all full of your color today

 

[lod01]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

Proper use of the death penalty and then work your way down. Things like 3 strikes are you actually are out. All we have to do is thin the herd and the problem is solved.

 

[Jewell]

OMG!!!!! Men of most races are rambuctious and do stupid ####!.....RUN FOR THE HILLS MA BARKER!

Exactly. Statistics will show an even far greater disparity in arrests among male vs. female and old people vs. youngle people. Is there a systemic bias against young men or do young men commit more crime than old ladies?

 

[lod01]

Crime linked to poverty - longitudinal study that shows racial invariance

http://www88.homepage.villanova.edu/lance.hannon/Forthcoming%20in%20the%20Journal%20of%20Poverty.pdf

Poverty, not race, tied to high crime rates in urban neighborhoods

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/badcomm.htm

If poverty is the best indicator of crime, then why isn't there a higher crime rate per capita in America's poorest counties?

1 Buffalo County, South Dakota $5,213

2 Shannon County, South Dakota $6,286

3 Starr County, Texas $7,069

4 Ziebach County, South Dakota $7,463

5 Todd County, South Dakota $7,714

6 Sioux County, North Dakota $7,731

7 Corson County, South Dakota $8,615

8 Wade Hampton, Alaska $8,717

9 Maverick County, Texas $8,758

From: List of lowest income counties in the United States

Because there is nothing there that anyone would want. I mean what kind of crime could you commit that anyone would even notice or care about?

 

[timschochet]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

 

[LinusMarr]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

 

[timschochet]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

That's a very interesting reply to my post, and it probably says more about you than you would prefer to be known, I'm guessing.

 

[Jewell]

Crime linked to poverty - longitudinal study that shows racial invariance

http://www88.homepage.villanova.edu/lance.hannon/Forthcoming%20in%20the%20Journal%20of%20Poverty.pdf

Poverty, not race, tied to high crime rates in urban neighborhoods

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/badcomm.htm

If poverty is the best indicator of crime, then why isn't there a higher crime rate per capita in America's poorest counties?

1 Buffalo County, South Dakota $5,213

2 Shannon County, South Dakota $6,286

3 Starr County, Texas $7,069

4 Ziebach County, South Dakota $7,463

5 Todd County, South Dakota $7,714

6 Sioux County, North Dakota $7,731

7 Corson County, South Dakota $8,615

8 Wade Hampton, Alaska $8,717

9 Maverick County, Texas $8,758

From: List of lowest income counties in the United States

Because there is nothing there that anyone would want. I mean what kind of crime could you commit that anyone would even notice or care about?

Murder or rape which both happen at a greater rate in the most dangerous areas in the country. Areas which also happen to have little of what others would want yet crime fluorishes.

 

[Wrigley]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

Nah, just arrest more caucasians......lets start with bankers and lawyers.

 

[lod01]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

2. You want to kill them also, right? Cool.

 

[LinusMarr]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

That's a very interesting reply to my post, and it probably says more about you than you would prefer to be known, I'm guessing.

I would think you would be on board with that....

 

[lod01]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

That's a very interesting reply to my post, and it probably says more about you than you would prefer to be known, I'm guessing.

I would think you would be on board with that....

Man, I thought he wanted to execute the 3 strikes losers. What a disappointment.

 

[LinusMarr]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

That's a very interesting reply to my post, and it probably says more about you than you would prefer to be known, I'm guessing.

I would think you would be on board with that....

Man, I thought he wanted to execute the 3 strikes losers. What a disappointment.

I think those were the caucasion 3 strike losers...

 

[Arizona Ron]

Outlaw for-profit prisons.

 

[lod01]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How about we make it legal for african americans to committ any crime they like with no punishment?

That's a very interesting reply to my post, and it probably says more about you than you would prefer to be known, I'm guessing.

I would think you would be on board with that....

Man, I thought he wanted to execute the 3 strikes losers. What a disappointment.

I think those were the caucasion 3 strike losers...

Execute them all.

 

[lod01]

Outlaw for-profit prisons.

Set up 1 national prison in death valley.

 

[whoknew]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

Completely revamp the criminal justice system. To do this, we need to let go of our thirst for vengeance and punishment and focus on rehabilitation.

That would include:

• Decriminalizing drugs (this will help in so many ways)
• Improving education in impoverished areas to help show a viable alternative (I have no idea how to do this, just that it needs to be done)
• Stop treating criminals as animals we lock up in cages for a few years and then hope for the best
• Instead treat them as human beings with respect and reasonable/comfortable living conditions
• More money for education/alternative rehabilitation in prisons
• Continued educational training/requirements for the police force
• Somehow solve the money issue in courts - again, I don't know how to do this. But I know its a big problem - there's a big difference between getting an overworked public defender with limited resources and a high priced criminal defense attorney. But I don't know how to fix that.

 

[lod01]

http://rt.com/usa/50-black-40-white-arrested-297/

49% of all black males

44% of all Hispanic males

40% of all white males

Those are some pretty big damn numbers. And really depressing. What is to be done?

Completely revamp the criminal justice system. To do this, we need to let go of our thirst for vengeance and punishment and focus on rehabilitation.

That would include:

• Decriminalizing drugs (this will help in so many ways)
• Improving education in impoverished areas to help show a viable alternative (I have no idea how to do this, just that it needs to be done)
• Stop treating criminals as animals we lock up in cages for a few years and then hope for the best
• Instead treat them as human beings with respect and reasonable/comfortable living conditions
• More money for education/alternative rehabilitation in prisons
• Continued educational training/requirements for the police force
• Somehow solve the money issue in courts - again, I don't know how to do this. But I know its a big problem - there's a big difference between getting an overworked public defender with limited resources and a high priced criminal defense attorney. But I don't know how to fix that.

I say kill them.

 

[-fish-]

Which neighborhood would you fell less safe living?

Evil midget.

 

[Sarnoff]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

3 has no impact on a culture that has no respect for education and the rule of law

 

[Zow]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

Nah, just arrest more caucasians......lets start with bankers and lawyers.

#### you

 

[DocHolliday]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

3 has no impact on a culture that has no respect for education and the rule of law

Where does this money come from for number 3? Money is an easy answer as a way to solve many problems. However, It is usually just as difficult to obtain that money. Let's educate. Let's train folks. Let's hire more police as a deterent. Let's add lighting to the streets and neighborhoods. Let's put cameras on every street corner as another deterent.

 

[oso diablo]

I cant believe that's true

first saw this in a reuters article, which actually (if you read closely) suggested that the underlying sample was US men who had been arrested. So the reported data was just delineating at what age they were first arrested.

tim's link suggests otherwise (random sample of US teens followed over time), but still doesn't link to the actual study.

i don't believe it's true, either.

 

[whoknew]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

3 has no impact on a culture that has no respect for education and the rule of law

Where does this money come from for number 3? Money is an easy answer as a way to solve many problems. However, It is usually just as difficult to obtain that money. Let's educate. Let's train folks. Let's hire more police as a deterent. Let's add lighting to the streets and neighborhoods. Let's put cameras on every street corner as another deterent.

"For the 2011 fiscal year, the president's base budget of the Department of spending on "overseas contingency operations" brings the sum to $664.84 billion." Link.

I bet we can find a couple million in there to try to save ourselves.

 

[SacramentoBob]

I cant believe that's true

first saw this in a reuters article, which actually (if you read closely) suggested that the underlying sample was US men who had been arrested. So the reported data was just delineating at what age they were first arrested.

tim's link suggests otherwise (random sample of US teens followed over time), but still doesn't link to the actual study.

i don't believe it's true, either.

If 46% of FBGs have been arrested, I tend to think the numbers are accurate.

 

[DrJ]

I'm pretty glad that we have such a robust welfare system as I've been told that lower classes would commit a lot of crime if we didn't pay them to not rob us.

 

[oso diablo]

I cant believe that's true

first saw this in a reuters article, which actually (if you read closely) suggested that the underlying sample was US men who had been arrested. So the reported data was just delineating at what age they were first arrested.

tim's link suggests otherwise (random sample of US teens followed over time), but still doesn't link to the actual study.

i don't believe it's true, either.

If 46% of FBGs have been arrested, I tend to think the numbers are accurate.

i don't believe that either. (yes, i've seen the poll)

 

[GroveDiesel]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

So rather than actually address the multiple problems with the data that have been brought up or try to refute the studies and info suggesting other factors play a larger role than race, you double down and start demanding changes to the law and throwing huge piles of money around. Got it. Oh, and I forgot implying that anyone that disagreed with you was racist. Awesome.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Looks like it's time to end the War on Crime since we're losing.

 

[GroveDiesel]

As a followup and specific response to Tim's ideas, I'd love to see a definitive study showing that an increase in education spending leads to some sort of corresponding increase in educational achievement and less crime.

 

[RCon]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

How in the hell do you get to these ideas from the article you started with? What does sentencing have to do with arrests? Where did you see racism in the original stats you posted?

 

[RCon]

Some of the responses here are pretty depressing to me. How about considering:

1. Decriminalizing the use of certain drugs?

2. Eliminating mandatory sentencing (like 3 strikes)?

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

4. Less tolerance for police authorities who demonstrate clear racism against blacks and Hispanics?

Just some ideas...

So rather than actually address the multiple problems with the data that have been brought up or try to refute the studies and info suggesting other factors play a larger role than race, you double down and start demanding changes to the law and throwing huge piles of money around. Got it. Oh, and I forgot implying that anyone that disagreed with you was racist. Awesome.

There is no statistic or anecdote in which timschochet can't find racism. It's pretty much his go to move.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

 

[whoknew]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

 

[Jewell]

As a followup and specific response to Tim's ideas, I'd love to see a definitive study showing that an increase in education spending leads to some sort of corresponding increase in educational achievement and less crime.

There is no such study. Actually, it appears that spending does not correlate with academic achievement or a reducttion in crime.

For instance, U.S. education spending tops global list, study shows. Yet, as the United States continue to outpace every other nation in per pupil spending, the United States continues to fall down rankings of student knowledge and it's high crime areas continue to outpace the criminal rate of many poorer areas throughout the world.

Much of this spending has occurred in poor urban areas, yet there has not been a corresponding uptick in academic achievement. Example, D.C. Leads Nation as U.S. Per Pupil Tops $10,600, Census Bureau Reports. DC public chools remain among the nation's worst. Crime has dropped in DC the past couple decades, but that is likely more attributable to gentrifcation than education spending.

The Kansas City School Experiment is perhaps the best example of per pupil spending not corresponding with increased academic achievement nor reduced crime.

 

[T Bell]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

Overall socio-economic status can't be overcome by funding schools better. The family life, lifestyle, etc. of so many inner-city kids simply has an overwhelming impact upon their lives that a few hours per week spent in school simply won't overcome.

 

[whoknew]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

Overall socio-economic status can't be overcome by funding schools better. The family life, lifestyle, etc. of so many inner-city kids simply has an overwhelming impact upon their lives that a few hours per week spent in school simply won't overcome.

Ok. How do we fix that?

 

[T Bell]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

Overall socio-economic status can't be overcome by funding schools better. The family life, lifestyle, etc. of so many inner-city kids simply has an overwhelming impact upon their lives that a few hours per week spent in school simply won't overcome.

Ok. How do we fix that?

You ask that as if it's one thing. It's not . It's many things, and they're all complex.

 

[LinusMarr]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

Overall socio-economic status can't be overcome by funding schools better. The family life, lifestyle, etc. of so many inner-city kids simply has an overwhelming impact upon their lives that a few hours per week spent in school simply won't overcome.

Ok. How do we fix that?

We dont, They do lolz....

 

[mr roboto]

Govt job isn't to 'fix' family structure.

 

[SacramentoBob]

3. More money going toward education in the inner cities, where much of the problem lies?

The problem with "inner city" schools (for the most part) has little to do with funding. The biggest problem with inner city schools is that...they're in the inner city.

What do you mean by that?

Overall socio-economic status can't be overcome by funding schools better. The family life, lifestyle, etc. of so many inner-city kids simply has an overwhelming impact upon their lives that a few hours per week spent in school simply won't overcome.

Ok. How do we fix that?

Break up the inner city (seriously).