Educational advocates in North Carolina want public schools to feel like a safe haven.
After 19 children and two adults were killed at an elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas earlier this week, Margaret Powell said that is hardly the case.
What You Need To Know
The National Education Association is the largest advocacy for education in America
The North Carolina Association for Education is an extension for NEA
Margaret Powell is on the frontlines of policy change advocating with policy makers in Washington D.C.
The organization is pushing multiple bills that would enhance behavioral services to students in schools and make buildings safer
“Right now, I believe happiness is a dream. I believe happiness is a dream because the adults, teachers, the educators in the building are trying to comfort the children to let them know that they can keep them safe but in the back of their minds, can I really keep them safe,” Powell said.
Powell is a representative for the North Carolina Association of Education. She is also an at-large director for the National Education Association, the motherhead of NCAE. Powell said her work takes her across the country to meet educators face-to-face.
“Something, I have learned after talking with my colleagues is these issues and these events are not isolated,” Powell said.
Because the threat of a shooting is a reality in any school district across the country, Powell said there are behavioral components to a school day that must be addressed.
“Folks that don’t work in schools and have that firsthand contact with students don’t really know what that’s like,” Powell said.
She said in order to learn, teachers and students must feel safe. The House of Representatives passed the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022 only to see it be denied in the Senate. While the bill isn’t inherently educational in nature, the bill would create clearer channels to share information between law enforcement entities.
In the wake of a Buffalo grocery store shooting that left 10 Black people dead, the bill would have expanded the power of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to target and track down threats of white supremacy in the country.
Two weeks ago, Powell said she was in Washington D.C. pushing Congress on multiple bills that address bullying, entrances to schools and the inclusion of more school counselors into the school building.
She said supporting faculty, students and staff for safer infrastructure shouldn’t look like an armed guard at the gate. The NEA released a statement denouncing the thought of allowing teachers to bring guns into the classroom. Powell said to keep children safe it takes a village.
“We understand that students need to feel that sense of belonging and within the safe schools act, that would allow school districts to have all those proper people in place to meet all of those needs and to meet kids where they are,” Powell said.
Powell specifically said the Safe Schools Improvement Act addresses bullying, harassment and connects students with resources in and outside the school.
This piece of congressional legislation will also provide a layer of protection for LGBTQ+ students.
However, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is in Houston, Texas for an NRA convention, has been vocal in the past about openly discussing disdain for gay and transgender issues as part of the curriculum.
The North Carolina Republican Party has also introduced a bill to the General Assembly forcing a teacher to disclose to a parent if a child says anything about changing their gender or sexuality.