Arne Duncan is a progressive educator and while this idea could work for high schoolers [and maybe even middle schoolers], it definitely does not work for the working parents of elementary schoolers OR for teachers ~ but I absolutely/positively agree with his comment that "... we have to think radically" ~ Sooz

Obama’s education secretary: Let’s boycott school until gun laws change
By Perry Stein May 19

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan pushed a radical idea on Twitter: Parents should pull their children out of school until elected officials pass stricter gun control laws.

His tweet came hours after a shooting rampage at a Houston-area high school Friday killed 10 people — a mass shooting that came just three months after 17 students and staffers were slain at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

When Peter Cunningham, a former education department employee, tweeted that it may be time for parents to pull their children out of school until gun laws are changed, Duncan, the education secretary under Obama, responded that his family “is in.”

“This is brilliant, and tragically necessary,” Duncan tweeted. “What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us?”

Duncan said in an interview Saturday that the idea was intended to be provocative but that an aggressive approach like a school boycott is needed if gun laws are ever going to change. He has school-age children and said if this idea were to gain traction, his family would participate.

“It’s wildly impractical and difficult,” Duncan said. “But I think it’s wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school.”

Those killed in Texas were at Sante Fe High School.

[Video accessible via the end link.]

Duncan is the managing partner of Chicago Cred, an organization that works to curb gun violence in Chicago.

A school boycott, Duncan said, is just one suggestion, and he said he’d consider other creative ideas that could impel policy changes.

“I’m open to other ideas, I’m open to different ideas, but I’m not open to doing nothing,” Duncan said. “We will see whether this gains traction, or something does, but we have to think radically.”

The boycott proposition received momentum online, including support from parents and the founder of Teach for America, Wendy Kopp.

Others questioned the practicality of the idea, saying it may be hard for single parents and low-income families to participate.

Still, some chimed in and said they would volunteer to watch children in their homes while they boycotted school.

“I’m in — let’s pick a date and start a movement no politician can ignore,” replied Jim Manly, the superintendent of KIPP Public Charter Schools in New York City.

The former secretary called the country “morally bankrupt” and said people can’t become numb to these mass shootings.

“This is not rocket science,” Duncan said. “This is not a difficult intellectual issue. What we have lacked is political courage, and we need to create the tension that allows us to break through on this issue.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/obamas-education-secretary-lets-boycott-school-until-gun-laws-change/2018/05/19/5ce3ebb0-5bab-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html?utm_term=.b2a5cf8b2999

I think it is a ridiculous idea. What happened to the days when we knew all of our students more intimately, when we knew who was using drugs, who was having mental health issues, and which of our students would be the ones most likely to want to hurt their classmates and teachers because of their pain? Now we just refer the difficult kids for medication or to behavioral schools. Teachers see 150 kids or more each day in a high school setting and guidance counselors have caseloads of 400-500 students. Enhanced security isn't going to work when the security risks are people who are supposed to be there. Fewer doors? Metal detectors? We have been there before. My dad was a state trooper assigned to guard the entrance to South Boston High School during integration/busing. Still the violence continued. People will break laws but that is no reason to not have laws. If we keep believing the gun lobby's claims that "well, that law wouldn't have stopped that shooter" we would be a lawless society. We have zillions of laws, and many are broken. You don't hear anyone saw we shouldn't have laws against drunk driving because some people still drink and drive and kill people.

queenie, I agree it's a ridiculous idea ~ but Arne did say "the idea was intended to be provocative" ~

You ask "What happened to the days when we knew all of our students more intimately, when we knew who was using drugs, who was having mental health issues, and which of our students would be the ones most likely to want to hurt their classmates and teachers because of their pain?" ~ in my own mind, the answer to that question is "sheer numbers" ~ public education is a product of public education funding ~ the less funding, the bigger the classroom populations ~ the less funding, the less teacher salaries ~ the less funding, the less publicly funded supplies ~ on and on, ad nauseum ~

I know there are creative ways around some of these problems from my personal experience with our non-profit charter elementary school ~ but, even tho we are under the CPS umbrella, we are allowed a lot of freedom ~ and our team is VERY creative ~ our middle-schoolers mentor our younger students, and the middle-schoolers often share any problems they perceive with the teachers ~ we did "up" our classroom size from 23 students per to 25 ... but we're holding steady at 25, while many CPS schools are at or approaching 35-40 students per ~ our school day is slightly longer than the norm to allow for extra "recess" time [read that as more time for the kidlets to blow off steam] ~ we have volunteer tutors [including me] to help struggling students ~ I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the idea that there are a lot of things that CAN be done at little if any cost ~

I need more coffee ~

Sooz

Yes sooz numbers and the demands of keeping data and continuing increase in workload. It was rhetorical,but finding a way to get that back is a step toward a solution.