POLICY 705: A FRESH START
After the July 16 meeting when the Tamaqua Area School Board voted to rescind controversial Policy 705 (“the armed teacher” policy) upon the formal recommendation of the board’s security committee, board member Nicholas Boyle announced that the board would appoint a committee consisting of stakeholders who would participate in a discussion and presumably make recommendations regarding the contents of the new policy.
Unfortunately, there is no indication that the board will consider any of the many alternatives to arming teachers that have been proposed to the board since last fall, nor will it give the public a significant voice in a vital and controversial policy affecting the entire school community.
The necessity for a policy revision is an opportunity to start at the beginning, where the board should have started last year prior to drafting the policy: by consulting experts, data, research and resources on gun violence prevention, which would include best practice recommendations on how to stop an active shooter.
I recently became aware of a free online course, “Reducing Gun Violence in America: Evidence for Change,” designed and taught by professors from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. It includes such topics as rights under the Second Amendment, gun storage practices, relevant legal issues, evidence based policies to prevent gun violence, and guns in public places, schools and homes.
One of the designers and teachers of the course, Professor Daniel Webster of JHU’s Center for Gun Policy and Research, has agreed to moderate group discussions online for any interested parties in our community. I am not suggesting that we turn over responsibility for drafting the security policy to anyone outside of the district. I am suggesting that those who are charged with protecting our schools take advantage of this opportunity to learn from the research that is available so the district has a well-informed, comprehensive policy going forward.
This would be a small investment of time and effort to learn how to best protect our students, faculty and staff. None of us, including myself and other advocates of alternative policies, should rely merely on our intuitions and biases.
Mr. Wittig, Mr. Boyle, Board Members: What do you say?
Cheryl Tennant Humes
Tamaqua
(Editor’s note: Cheryl Humes is running for a seat on the Tamaqua Area School Board)
Comments
Also "Know the Signs" from Sandy Hook Promise (web site).
Good Luck!
The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research began in 1995 with funding from the Joyce Foundation of Chicago. Anything education from Chicago, reminds me of a fellow named Rahm Israel Emanuel, or Arnie Duncan.
If you are a board member, you should know Arnie. Anyway, JHU's Center for Gun Policy and Research got it's beginnings in Chicago, through funds from the Joyce Foundation. Since inception, the Joyce Foundation spent over $54 million on over 100 grants that favor gun control. Bottom line, Cheryl is looking at Gun Control Advocates from Chicago, to come and fix the problems in Tamaqua. Keep Education and the decisions LOCAL! (I'm not from Tamaqua either)
Anyway... For the sheer number of victims of violent crime, no other city comes close to Chicago. In Chicago, 1,636 people have been shot this year alone.
If you follow the progressive ideas of Chicago, things will get bad. This candidate sounds like a progressive anti gun liberal. Just saying, but hey, I've got no dog in that fight, nor children in your school.
Read up on Daniel Webster, the one who would facilitate this discussion.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-xpm-2011-01-25-bs-md-ci-gun-lecture-20110125-story.html
Now...
Daniel Webster is a Pro Gun Control, professional who draws a paycheck from an organization funded mainly by a like minded foundation. I stand on addressing mental health and education, before I stand on gun control. Gun Control Capital (Chicago) saw 4 killed, 43 wounded in weekend shootings. It's the people, not the guns Joe.
Webster does not support gun control, he supports laws that keep guns from the mentally ill or criminal. If you read the article I posted you would see that. I'm pretty certain from your past posts that you and him would agree on much.
And yes, suggesting that because a foundation in Chicago provided grant money to Johns Hopkins that they are trying to make the more more like Chicago is a conspiracy theory. Chicago is the third largest city in the US with many charitable foundations so certainly there is a good chance that any grant dependent organization will get dollars from there. In fact, it makes great sense for a foundation that sees gun deaths daily to have a vested interest in change. What on earth is wrong about that?
You post many conspiracy theories on here, mostly about some deep dark agenda of some boogieman organization trying to destroy the American way. Your words are easily found by google and it often leads to some alt-right blogger.
Perhaps it's the Fabians?
It probably sounds conspiracy, so I'll give you that, but those two things are real and part of our history. Perhaps I'm not being fair to Mr. Webster, but he flocks with turkeys.
On obstruction? It's a witch hunt.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/agenda-21-the-un-conspiracy-that-just-wont-die
Now Meyers will say the daily beast is biased against him but I invite you to look up agenda 21 and see who is pushing the conspiracy theory...a bunch of alt right guys selling books. However, give their YouTube videos a watch (don’t censor, really watch then...Meyers will censor but those looking for truth look at both sides) and decide whose reporting is more factual and professional
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21
Here's the actual document.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf
That buzz word as of the past 10 years... "Sustainability" has its roots in this document.
Agenda 21 drives the globalist, socialist loving, left leaners of the Democrat Party. Well heck, the globalists. (Period)
I don't draw from the Daily Beast, honestly.
I happen to like Glenn Beck, but my main news sources are CBN, Drudge, WND, FOX, Gateway Pundit, SRN.
Did you look in to who the Fabians are? They infiltrated the universities. Go ahead and laugh it up. The jokes... you.
You are one of the useful idiots Joe. How's that feel?
Drudge is an aggregator along with the many of the other “sources”. You have no leg to stand on accusing others of bias when these are your news sources. If you want more unbiased reporting, try the guardian, CSM, BBC and Reuters.
When the Roman Governor, Pilate interviewed (judged) Jesus after the Jewish Leaders brought Jesus before him, Jesus said... "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.
We appear to be in an age of confusion. Honestly Joe, I don't want to continue this back and forth crap, as I feel as if nobody sees the truth unless they want to find the truth. Politics is so full of lies, the truth of the swamp dwellers may never be known by us folks. Truth... What Is Truth?
I'm looking up some history at...
https://www.biblegateway.com