Our Children Can’t Wait
Edited by Joseph P. Bishop
Foreword by: Becky Pringle
Publication Date: December 23, 2022
Pages: 312
“Reimagining School Safety,” an adaptation of chapter 11 of Our Children Can’t Wait by Heather M. Reynolds and Ron Avi Astor, was recently excerpted by AFT American Educator. The piece begins,
The COVID-19 pandemic and recent racial justice movements have made it very apparent that our current approaches to keeping students safe and healthy in schools need major restructuring and reform. We lack mental health supports in many schools at a time when students need them most. We are punishing and removing students of color from schools at much higher rates than white students, and students with disabilities are three times more likely to receive a punitive punishment than their nondisabled peers. Additionally, there are strong calls from communities across the United States to remove law enforcement from schools immediately, with little planning or data-driven support. With the infusion of federal money into states and schools to help address student achievement losses and mental health challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have an opportunity for real change. This is an opportunity to create sustainable systems and infrastructure that help local districts address their most pressing safety needs through districtwide data-driven strategies that show long-term, positive outcomes for the entire school community.
Read the full excerpt at American Educator.