AFSA urged the Trump Administration to establish a National Task Force on School Safety to develop best practices and offer real solutions to schools.
We cannot afford to wait for Congress or state legislatures to pass legislation in this area, wrote Ernest Logan, executive vice president of the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), in a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Let's have a frank conversation with Americas parents, educators and students about ways to keep our kids safe.
Our members know all too well the horror of senseless gun violence in our schools, particularly as we lost one of our own in Newtown, Connecticut. Unlike after Newtown, though, our heartbreak is leavened by hope because Parklands students are speaking up for change and people are listening.
Logan stressed that to enhance school safety principals must have a seat at the table rather than be handed a number of tasks to implement. Not only do principals and school leaders have the responsibility for creating a safe and secure learning environment for students, they have long experience grappling with building safety issues. Indeed, many of our local affiliates have worked closely with their respective school districts and have already developed common sense solutions to ensure the safety of their schools. This is the kind of coordination that must be done, and that we will bring to this discussion, said Logan.
I appreciate your deep concern about this issue and want to express to you my gratitude for your demand that Congress hold hearings on this issue and for your active participation in the listening session on school safety with the President. It is clear that you care deeply about finding real solutions to gun violence in our schools, and we could not agree more. Let us come together to work for real solutions to this terrible, terrible problem. I stand ready and willing to assist in any way, said Logan.
Read the full letter here.