The Serious Implications of the New Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety | janresseger

The Serious Implications of the New Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety | janresseger

The Serious Implications of the New Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety

On December 18, buried in the pre-holiday news was the release of a report from Betsy DeVos’s Federal Commission on School Safety.  This blog reported last week on its most troubling recommendation—the one that was immediately enacted when DeVos’s department rescinded Obama-era guidance designed to reduce racial disparities in school discipline.  It is worth exploring more broadly the implications of what was in the Commission’s report.

For the Washington Post, Laura Meckler reported: “President Trump’s Federal Commission on School Safety, formed after a mass shooting at a Florida high school, recommended… that school systems consider arming personnel and advised against increasing the minimum age requirement for gun purchases.”

For Politico, Kimberly Hefling wrote: “A Trump administration school safety panel hardly touched on the role of guns in deadly school shootings in its wrap-up…. But the panel instead encouraged more coordination between schools and law enforcement that could include programs that arm highly trained school personnel.  It said local communities should consider incentives that encourage military veterans and those with a law enforcement background to work in schools.  It also endorsed the adoption by states of ‘extreme risk protection orders’ designed to temporarily restrict access to firearms by individuals found to be a danger to themselves or others and encouraged Congress to modernize privacy laws.”

For the NY Times, Erica Green and Katie Benner explained: “Almost immediately, the commission turned away from guns and instead scrutinized the Obama administration’s CONTINUE READING: The Serious Implications of the New Report of the Federal Commission on School Safety | janresseger