Late on February 14,at the end of that terrible day, I posted David Berliner’s call for A National Day of Action to Protect Students Against Gun Violence. Over 70,000 readers responded. Plans are in the works. The day is likely to be April 20, to commemorate the mass slaughter at Columbine in 1999.
Stay tuned. I hope to have an announcement tomorrow.
We will not let this massacre fade and be forgotten, as has Columbine, Sandy Hook, and other carnages directed against our children and their educators.
We will act. We will mobilize families, students, and educators in common cause to protect our children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is great. I’m working to get Indivisible on board with this.
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YES!!!!
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I’ve sketched a logo for “Educators for Sane Gun Laws.” I’d like to submit it for your consideration. I plan to donate the logo and all reproductions rights. Please email me so I can send it to you.
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Lynda,
Please email to cburris@networkforpubliceducation.net
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I can envision more than one day, each selected for good reasons as well as likely to get enough people and publicity.
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The Day of Action should include busloads of teachers, parents and kids going on “field trips” to state legislatures and Congress to demand action. Some parents will need help with childcare if other families can’t help them; get community groups and places of worship involved to provide that.
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I hope this protest results in more than the “thoughts and prayers” of politicians. These are easy to give. We need action in order to keep guns out of the hands of those than should not have them. Politicians need to feel the outrage and frustration of their constituents.
The Republicans are already making this about mental health, not access to guns. Trump, of course, is a hypocrite since he is slashing services to vulnerable people. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-vows-mental-health-care-fix-after-florida-shooting-he-n848481
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I agree. One of the families of a Parkland victim has already published a statement that “we don’t want your ‘thoughts and prayers.'” They want action.
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It took a massacre on St. Valentine’s Day in 1929, to get law enforcement off their butts, to do something about organized crime. I find this to be the mother of all ironies. Maybe this valentine’s day massacre, will finally put the spur to law enforcement and individuals to finally take the measures necessary to end school violence.
April 20 is in spring break time, for many school districts. May 1 is a international worker’s day. You should settle on one firm day, and soon.
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I think May 1st is good because “May Day” corresponds as a distress signal..
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Shouldn’t there be some kind of legal right to an education free of the threat of gun violence? I heard something on the radio this morning about student protests. I think the students should be front and center. I can only hope that as the younger generation moves on they maintain their outrage and force gun control legislation.
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The huge roadblocks to doing anything remotely sane regarding guns and the continual slaughters are the NRA, the gun makers and the GOP (including a few conservative Democrats). Vote out the Republicans in November.
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Today’s Politico has a long discussion of DeVos’ desire to have Congressional hearings on the shootings and “earnest discussions” not about guns, but mental health issues. So far Congress has not signed on to hearings, but Patty Murray thinks that is a good idea. That suggests that critical talking points should be put together and widely circulated. The same post all so describes plans for serious downsizing of staff and consolidation of USDE activities.
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the “lone mentally ill shooter” profile: preventing anyone in the national media to hover around the subjects of White supremacy radicalization or domestic abuse
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Thank you.,It’s time for a movement. Let’s take our country back.
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Let’s have bumper stickers and billboards that promote the right to a safe and free public education, which should supersede any perceived “right” to own an automatic weapon. And yes, we need more than one day of action so legislators know we are serious.
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We need to encourage college and high school students to participate….the voices of the high school students in Florida are the ones we are now hearing most clear!
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Members of Congress should introduce legislation to make April 20 an annual national day of remembrance for victims of gun violence. Education initiatives ranging from accurate lessons about the 2nd amendment (which I’ve pontificated about here before) and local and regional ceremonies in sites of mass violence could be created. It could be an annual rally day in DC that could shut the city down much like the Women’s March.
Coincidentally, April 20 is a significant date in German history. It was Hitler’s birthday and a national holiday during the Third Reich. It is a date now shrouded in shame and used as a teaching moment in schools throughout the nation. Perhaps we could do the same. Seems even more appropriate since we have a fascist Dear Leader of our own.
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As the original second amendment was about Blacks an article in Alternet proposed a solution for our gun problems
https://www.alternet.org/right-wing/want-see-gun-control-enacted-support-movement-arm-black-folks-en-masse
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Awesome. Please create an event on FB so we can spread!
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Let’s seriously do this. Reach out to organizers like those from the Women’s March. Teachers could come to school that day but stay outside holding letter writing stations and calling stations to our representatives as well as other activities. It is imperative that we go without pay so that no one can say we are doing it for a day off.
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I maintain a day is not enough. A day is a drop in the bucket. A day is a single tear from a single eye; a fleeting thought; a rushed prayer. We need students to walk out en masse and not return until something is done. I know that this is an organizational nightmare, for parents who work. But there must be some way to disrupt the system so drastically that legislators must take note?
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With all due respect, I posit that one day is not enough! I’ve been thinking about a nationwide Mass Exodus from schools until some action is taken by our government. I’ve gotten positive responses on Facebook, and I am going to pose the question to my colleagues at the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence, EveryTown for Gun Safety and SandyHook Promise. If my children were still in school, I would remove them. This is insane. I am interested in Feedback.
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Disrupt the system sounds more like reformer lingo than good reason. Diane has often suggested that we need to fight against the disruption of modern education reform. We are all upset, but we need solutions. If a day March will highlight the problem and rouse people to vote for reasonable leaders, let us have a March. But extensive divorce of the children of good people with school will ruin school without solving the problem.
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With all due respect, we’ve had marches aplenty. We all write our members of Congress. Nothing changes. This is a national epidemic and epidemics call for drastic measures. We all need to brainstorm and organize. All I know is that if my kids were still in school, I personally would be taking them out. And apparently I’m not alone in that thought. That’s all.
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Mass shootings happen where large groups of people gather. Gun violence is not just a school problem. Schools are very convenient and a natural target of troubled teenagers who blame everyone else, guilty or innocent, for all their troubles. We need to expand the issue beyond school settings to limit the ability of people to suggest just turning schools into armed fortresses.
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Hi Diane, It looks like a walkout is being organized for March 14 already. It looks like the Women’s March people are doing it. Perhaps everyone needs to get together on this.
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a day of action should include a mass prayer, on our knees begging God for forgiveness for walking away, followed by mass baptisms, and dedication of lives to Christ. Then there should be self defense classes, including firearm classes, where participants learn to disassemble, clean, reassemble, load and fire guns, so they can protect themselves. The day should end with a memeoral to the innocent lives lost, families torn apart due to gun free zones creating target rich environments, and draw up a plan of action to hire unemployed veterans, armed, to guard our schools.
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Yep, just what we need. An army for Christ. If he had one, he would be turning over in his grave.
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Do we screen these veterans for PTSD, or do we just assume that as warriors for Christ God will lead them?
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…and kittens and puppies, don’t forget the kittens and puppies.
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Mass demonstrations and action will bring about change…. together we can bring about reforms. These weapons have not business in the hands of civilians.
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I hope people get more involved to protect students.
I got a page on Facebook “ Protecting stubdebts it’s my Priority.
Thanks to Diane as well Lloyd they care about students .
Good Jod guys .
We have to work united not matter where we born , no matter how much money I had or had or others have it’s not about money it’s about the future it’s about to protect inocents and unprotected students and teachers , we have to do what we should .
I’m not a nation public figure but I cannot stop spreading and cooperating with the school sistem .
I hope I get more Suport .
Dade caunty , just one day after the tragedy at the school where my daughter assist another student has a gun . Thanks God another student saw the weapon and informed to the principal and Hialeah Gardens was shut down until the police handle the situation.
The same day at other school here in Dade County was arrested for a posting a treat in instragram he was boosted by the intelligence because he real Acount was hired .
ENAFF is ENAFF
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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR PARENTS – Last night, the Coral Springs Police Department arrested 18-year old, Sebastian Darrah, of Coral Springs after posting “Watch out for round 2 tomorrow Coral Springs. We comin guns blazin you locked our (n word) up” on Instagram. This post was a reference to the arrest of a suspect possessing a firearm at Coral Springs High School earlier in the day. When questioned by police, Sebastian admitted that was his Instagram account with the username “Supersalivation” and confessed to making the threatening post. He stated, “It was meant to be a joke.” Sebastian has been charged as an adult for making false bomb, weapon of mass destruction or arson report. The Coral Springs Police are urging parents of teens and young adults to discuss social media use and the consequences of making such threats. It is illegal and we will investigate and charge the person making such threats, regardless of age. Social media posts, like the one made by Sebastian, are meant to cause fear and strain law enforcement resources. Students deserve a safe and secure environment when attending school and parents should not have to fear for their child’s safety. We appreciate the support of our community and it is our mission to educate parents about this type of threat and its consequences. Please like and share with fellow parents to assist us in our mission to prevent further threats of violence. Also, we remind all residents of our Make a Call, Make a Difference program, report suspicious activity by calling (954) 344-1800.
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