Schools are using facial recognition to try to stop shootings. Here’s why they should think twice. - Vox

Schools are using facial recognition to try to stop shootings. Here’s why they should think twice. - Vox

Schools are using facial recognition to try to stop shootings. Here’s why they should think twice.
Facial recognition is just one of several AI-powered security tools showing up at schools.

For years, the Denver public school system worked with Video Insight, a Houston-based video management software company that centralized the storage of video footage used across its campuses. So when Panasonic acquired Video Insight, school officials simply transferred the job of updating and expanding their security system to the Japanese electronics giant. That meant new digital HD cameras and access to more powerful analytics software, including Panasonic’s facial recognition, a tool the public school system’s safety department is now exploring.

Denver, where some activists are pushing for a ban on government use of facial recognition, is not alone. Mass shootings have put school administrators across the country on edge, and they’re understandably looking at anything that might prevent another tragedy.

Safety concerns have led some schools to consider artificial intelligence-enabled tools, including facial recognition software; AI that can scan video feeds for signs of brandished weapons; even analytics tools that warn when there’s been suspicious movement in a usually-empty hallway. Recode has identified about 20 companies that have sold or have expressed interest in selling such technology to educational institutions.

On its face, facial recognition seems like it might help keep kids safe; in a promotional video by Panasonic, a Denver public school official argues that the company’s AI could be used to prevent potentially dangerous people — like students expelled because they CONTINUE READING: Schools are using facial recognition to try to stop shootings. Here’s why they should think twice. - Vox

Just Try to Catch Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Just Try to Catch Diane Ravitch's blog 

 A site to discuss better education for all

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YESTERDAY

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Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

ProPublica: Donald Trump Jr. Visits Mongolia, Gets Special Treatment, Kills an Endangered Sheep | Diane Ravitch's blog

ProPublica: Donald Trump Jr. Visits Mongolia, Gets Special Treatment, Kills an Endangered Sheep | Diane Ravitch's blog

ProPublica: Donald Trump Jr. Visits Mongolia, Gets Special Treatment, Kills an Endangered Sheep

Someday we won’t have to think about the Trump family and their misadventures. I look forward to that day.

Donald Trump Jr. went to Mongolia in the summer of 2019, and ProPublica explains what he did there.

What did  you do on your vacation? Did you slaughter a creature who is part of an endangered species?

The rocky highlands of Central Asia, in a remote region of Western Mongolia, are home to a plummeting population of the largest sheep in the world, the argali. The endangered species is beloved for its giant curving horns, which can run over 6 feet in length.

On a hunting trip this August, Donald Trump Jr. shot and killed one.

His adventure was supported by government resources from both the U.S. and Mongolia, which each sent security services to accompany the president’s eldest son and grandson on the multiday trip. It also thrust Trump Jr. directly into the controversial world of Mongolian trophy hunting — a polarizing practice in a country that views CONTINUE READING: ProPublica: Donald Trump Jr. Visits Mongolia, Gets Special Treatment, Kills an Endangered Sheep | Diane Ravitch's blog