News: What schools can learn after Uvalde

Monday, January 22, 2024

What schools can learn after Uvalde

Jan 22, 2024

Artist Abel Ortiz gives Attorney General Merrick Garland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta a tour of murals of shooting victims.

Artist Abel Ortiz (left), gives Attorney General Merrick Garland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta a tour of murals of shooting victims, Jan. 17, 2024, in Uvalde, Texas. | Eric Gay/AP

LESSONS LEARNED — Many of the mistakes that doomed Robb Elementary have been widely documented by now.

— Yet a newly-issued Justice Department review of the May 2022 shooting that killed 19 children and two educators in Uvalde, Texas also issues a swath of safety and security recommendations that should not be overlooked by schools and first responders.

— Uvalde’s school system has its own police force, and systems for campus safety alerts and classroom drills. But those measures alone were not enough. The DOJ’s report outlines grim reminders about the importance of training, interagency communication, and security in an age of mass violence.

— Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta noted the school’s campus safety plan “was effectively a template” and “included security measures that were not even available at Robb”. There was also “a culture of complacency” that left interior and exterior doors routinely unlocked. Confusion over where to find a master key to unlock classroom doors contributed to authorities’ delayed entry into classrooms 111 and 112.

— These findings and a swath of others helped inform the Justice Department’s safety recommendations to school districts. Here’s a sample of what they said:

School police departments should hatch agreements with neighboring agencies that are likely to respond to critical emergencies to establish “mutually agreed upon clear jurisdictional responsibilities.”
Law enforcement, first responders, emergency management, and other municipal government agencies should coordinate with school districts to conduct preparedness exercises at least annually.
School districts should upgrade or replace all doors (or locks) throughout their campuses so that doors can be locked from the inside. Schools should also use “universal access boxes”, a locked box that contains master keys near the entry points of school buildings, that can be used in emergencies by first responders and staff.
Schools must ensure campus buildings where there is student activity are retrofitted for Wi-Fi to ensure emergency alerts are received in a timely manner. School districts should also ensure their emergency alert systems are well understood by all staff, and offer both standard training and refresher training on the use of their emergency alert system to all employees.
School districts should also “meticulously consider, plan, and execute” if they decide to establish their own police department. That includes plans for budgeting, hiring, developing standard operating procedures, and student/community engagement.

— “We cannot look away from what happened here. We cannot look away from these children,” Gupta said while publicly unveiling the report in Uvalde.

— “No law enforcement agency or community can assume that what happened here — or in Newtown, or in Parkland, or in Columbine — can’t happen in their community,” Gupta added. “That is our reality.”

— School security will be a top issue for the Biden administration today. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is scheduled to travel to Parkland, Florida and join Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly, and other officials for a walkthrough of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — the site of the 2018 attack that killed 17 people and wounded 17 others.

— Officials will meet with some of the victims’ families to discuss federal government support for school safety and mental health, according to the department. The DOJ’s findings from Texas likely won’t be far from mind.

IT’S MONDAY, JAN. 22. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. A year ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ operation had grand visions for his campaign. But reality set in after his recent distant second place showing in Iowa and grim polls showing him in single digits in New Hampshire.

Reach out with tips to today’s host at jperez@politico.com and also my colleagues Michael Stratford (mstratford@politico.com), Bianca Quilantan (bquilantan@politico.com) and Mackenzie Wilkes (mwilkes@politico.com).

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IN THE STATES

THE PRICE OF BOOK BANS — Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature wanted to keep obscene books out of the hands of kids. But some are now acknowledging they created a “logistical nightmare” that lawmakers are trying to rein in.

— Legislators this month introduced a new idea to curb frivolous challenges to books — one of the first admissions the law, which tightened scrutiny around books with sexual content in K-12 schools, may have gone too far. POLITICO’s Andrew Atterbury reports the potential solution is allowing local schools to charge some people a $100 fee if they want to object to more than five books.

— The proposal, tucked into a larger effort seeking to deregulate rules in public schools, authorizes local districts to collect a $100 fee for each book objection that comes from anyone without a student at the campus where the publication is challenged. The fee would kick in only after the complainant challenged five books and the money must be returned if the objection is ultimately upheld.

— House legislators have advanced the bill through two committees, though the Florida Senate doesn’t have similar legislation. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said this week that the upper chamber has “not yet looked into” the idea.

In Congress

LET’S MAKE A DEAL — A deal that would expand the Child Tax Credit and revive several breaks for businesses passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday in a strong bipartisan vote, while also winning an endorsement from the White House.

— The developments give the deal momentum, POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim reports, though its fate on the House floor remains uncertain.

— The legislation endured a robust amendment process Friday, with Democrats attempting several times to bolster the proposed expansion of the CTC.

— Three amendments that would restore the 2021 version of the family relief, make the current CTC fully refundable and allow families to claim the credit in advance monthly payments all failed in party-line votes, with every Republican voting to strike them down.

— However, every Republican on the committee and the majority of Democrats ended up endorsing the tax package, which also would beef up subsidies for affordable housing, expand disaster assistance and permanently increase deductions that small businesses can take for purchases of certain equipment and software.

— The deal is expected to be put up for a “suspension” vote in the House that would require a two-thirds majority to suspend the rules and expedite the chamber’s consideration of the measure. That maneuver would circumvent the Rules Committee, where far-right conservatives currently hold considerable sway.

Early childhood education

HEAD START FLAK — A pair of House Republicans are denouncing a Biden administration measure that would require Head Start programs to boost worker wages by 2031.

— House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee Chair Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) argue that the Department of Health and Human Services proposal undermines a Head Start grantee's ability to set their own local wages, POLITICO’s Mackenzie Wilkes reports.

— The proposed rule from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s agency would require Head Start programs to pay staff on par with public preschool teachers and make “measurable progress” toward pay parity with kindergarten to third-grade teachers.

— HHS expects that wages at $15 per hour would meet the minimum pay requirement the agency is proposing and raise annual wages by more than $10,000 on average.

— Foxx and Bean assert that pay parity for Head Start educators is “misguided”, “draws inappropriate parallels between the nature and qualification of teachers” and doesn’t account for future increases to teacher pay.

— “The concept of pay parity is not static, and the department is setting grantees up to fail as they chase a moving target,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Becerra.

ON THE AIRWAVES

— The Invest in Education Coalition is pushing for the passage of the Educational Choice for Children Act this week with a six-figure ad buy.

— The school choice advocacy group is first targeting the D.C. area over the next month with a 60-second spot.

— The bill would grant tax credits to individuals and corporations who donate to tax-exempt organizations that provide scholarships to K-12 students.

Syllabus

— School shooting spurs charges against mom and dad: The Wall Street Journal

— Federal data shows a drop in campus cops, for now: The 74

— ‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the anti-DEI crusade: The New York Times

— A college quarterback testified about NIL. He says Congress is missing the point: The Washington Post

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