(Newswire.net — March 1, 2020) —
Education Secretary Besty DeVos is making a mockery of ethics and professional standards alike yet again, this time by refusing to acknowledge and investigate the role of guns and gun violence in America’s education system. Though our headlines are beset everyday by reports of another new school shooting, and thousands of Americans continue to live in fear of gun violence, the Trump administration is flagrantly towing the NRA-line with its new school safety commission.
A lame-duck commission
Secretary DeVos recently told a Senate committee that the federal commission on school safety that was established after the Parkland school shooting won’t be focusing on guns when it comes to the violence currently haunting America’s school children.
“That’s not part of the commission’s charge, per se,” DeVos responded when asked if she would be analyzing the role of guns by Senator Leahy, according to the New York Times. It should be clear to all that the Trump administration’s cozying up with the NRA and other pro-gun lobbyist is continuing to cloud its judgement when it comes to establishing a bipartisan consensus that will help keep schoolchildren safe while they roam the halls of their schools and campuses.
The commission, who can only recommend a cheap MRI for gunshot victims, is also wasting its time by chasing certain rumors that were long-ago proven to be wasting the public’s time. The announcement issued by the White House about the committee noted that they would be closely examining the role of the consumption of “violent entertainment” by today’s youth, as if it’s contemporary television shows and movies that’s driving kids to commit school violence.
As others have pointed out, however, young people around the world consume media featuring violent images and acts without shooting up their schools. Only in the United States, with lax gun laws and Republicans willing to do anything to prevent a serious investigation into school violence, do we continue to suffer at the hands of mass shooters.
More of the same from DeVos
Americans expecting positive action to be taken by Betsy Devos are fooling themselves. Our abhorrent education secretary has steered money away from public school systems, and continues to make a mockery of government-intervention to bolster students around the nation. As long as she and her ilk continue to govern American’s education system, we should expect little headway against gun violence.
We can’t afford to wait, however; every day, more American children are being put at risk by the scourge of gun violence in schools that’s going unanswered by the government. It’s time to demand renewed action by congressional leaders, and to send a message to the inhabitants of the White House that a serious investigation into the role of guns in schools is long overdue.
Rather than toadying to the gun lobby and NRA officials who would rather have Americans walking around blind than knowing about the truth of gun violence, we need an education secretary who can stand up and speak truth to power. As long as we have Betsy DeVos, we should expect more of the same mediocrity.