On January 16th, 2013, President Obama announced a comprehensive plan to address gun violence. There were several proposals including those focused on school safety. Part of the plan enables U.S. public schools to hire up to 1,000 more school police or school counselors.
With these realities in mind, a coalition of individuals and organizations in Chicago has formed to ask the Chicago Public Schools to pass a resolution that would state unequivocally that any new funding received from Federal grants to improve school safety based on the President’s gun reform plan will be used to hire COUNSELORS NOT COPS.
More details will be forthcoming on this effort in the coming days. In the meantime, if you want to participate in this effort, email us at yes2counselors@gmail.com.
Co-produced with Mariame Kaba of Project NIA
usprisonculture.com/blog/2013/04/19/a-different-approach-to-school-safety-a-short-film/