Archives for April 2008

I know that there are many important issues in this upcoming presidential election.  To mention a few, the mortgage crisis, health care, the funding for social security, the cost of gasoline, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our policy toward China.  But our country’s future depends on our young people.

Our federal budget reflects our nation’s priorities. And in a report issued by First Focus (www.firstfocus.net/Download/CBook.pdf) in the past five years, children have lost significant ground in the federal budget.  “While overall spending on children’s issues increased by about 1.4%, in real terms, total federal non-defense spending grew at nearly  10 times that rate.  As a result, the children’s share of the federal non-defense budget declined from 11 percent in 2004 to 10 percent in 2008.  This drop continues a trend in which the budget share allocated to children has declined 23 percent since 1960.  President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposal continues this trend.  While spending on children’s health programs will increase by 2.2 percent, discretionary spending in this are would drop by 12 percent from 2008 levels.  42% of all federal spending goes to the military, 16 percent goes to health care and only 4.4 cents goes toward education, training and social services. (Source:  Public Education Network Weekly Newsblast, 4/18/2008).

As the presidential candidates come to your neighborhood, it is critical that educators ask, “Why do children come last?”

Nine third graders were suspended this week after school officials in WAYCROSS, GA uncovered a plot that they planned to attack their teacher.  The children allegedly brought handcuffs, a knife, a heavy crystal paperweight and several rolls of duct tape to school.  The Waycross police said that the 8- and 9- year olds were seeking revenge against the teacher because she had scolded one of their friends.

School violence is nothing new.  In the 1960’s a film called “Black Board Jungle” was made  about violence in an inner-city school.   What is new about school violence is that it is taking place in small town, rural and suburban  America (and the world – Finland had a school shooting incident) and it involves guns and automatic weapons.  Parents moved out of  inner-city schools to escape violence, drugs, gangs and crime and guess what, these things have followed them

What can schools do to protect themselves, their staff and their students from school violence?  First, they must remain vigilant and need to recognize that no school or community is immune.  School leaders and staff need to read their school safety plans, update them if necessary and make sure that EVERY staff member  knows what they are to do in case of  an emergency.

The FBI and the Secret Service have written two reports which can be downloaded.  The FBI report is called “The School Shooter Report” and the Secret Service’s “The National Threat Assessment Report.”  Every school should have at least two copies, one in the principal’s office and one in the school library’s teacher reference file.

Parents, staff and most importantly, students need to be protected from violence.