Economist: Giving more money to Chicago schools could significantly reduce violence

Chicago’s troubling homicide rate could be significantly reduced through a massive increase in state spending for Chicago schools. That's just one of the proposals floated Monday by a prominent University of Chicago economist Jens Ludwig. With a substantial commitment, he says homicides could be reduced by nearly 60 percent. Illinois is dead last when it comes to the percentage of education dollars provided by the state to its cities. Ludwig believes adding $1.7 billion dollars would not only bring Illinois up to the national average, but could substantially reduce gun violence as well. Given the social science evidence on the link between high school graduation and gun violence, that would be about a 30 percent decrease in the homicide rates in the city of Chicago for something that has absolutely nothing to do with the city of Chicago policies.