Books, Not Guns

Violence, of any kind, in our schools, deserves all of our attention. Too often though, efforts to respond to mass tragedy end up harming the very people and communities we claim to want to protect.

In the wake of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, the President, Betsy Devos and the National Rifle Association have proposed giving firearms to teachers. This half-baked idea only stands to harden our schools and further militarize one of the few places where young people should expect to be free from harm.
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A Challenge to Philanthropy: Expand Health and Educational Opportunities for Native American Youth

The philanthropic sector needs to commit to long-term, sustained investments that address economic and racial disparities and opportunity gaps affecting Native youth. We must do more to ensure that Native youth have access to a comprehensive system of supports so that they reach adulthood healthy, educated, and prepared to join the next generation of leaders.
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Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys

Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds, according to a sweeping new study that traced the lives of millions of children.

White boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way. Black boys raised at the top, however, are more likely to become poor than to stay wealthy in their own adult households.
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Striking Teachers Are Fighting for Communities

Teacher strikes that started in West Virginia and are now raging in Oklahoma and whipping up in Kentucky and Arizona are being called a “nationwide movement.” But a nationwide movement for what?

Since the 2012 Chicago teachers’ strike, teachers have been aligning their labor actions to the tenets of social-justice unionism that extend teacher grievances beyond the defense of their own wage and benefits to fighting for the rights and needs of students and the broader community.
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They Led a National March. Now Parkland Students Return to a School They Say 'Feels like Jail'

Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School return to class Monday, their first day back since organizing one of the largest youth-led protests in US history. But these teenagers won't be returning to a normal high school experience. Instead, they'll be met with strict security measures which are intended to protect them from another mass shooting but have some students feeling as if they'll be learning in a prison.
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Why Are Black Students Punished So Often? Minnesota Confronts a National Quandary

Nationally, black students are suspended three times as often as their white peers; in Minnesota, it is eight times as often. To explain this trend, officials here point to the rapid increase in the state’s minority population in the last decade, and the fact that the state has the largest poverty gap between blacks and whites in the nation.
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