Statement on Atty Gen. Jeff Sessions’ Announcement to “Improve” School Safety
WASHINGTON – In the wake of Atty. Gen. Jeff Session’s announcement today to to “improve” school safety and better enforce existing gun laws, Advancement Project’s national office released the following statement:
“The writing is no longer on the wall; it’s on the books. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions’ announcement today to award lucrative grants to police departments across the country to increase the number of School Resource Officers and train school personnel to use guns will put more young people in danger,” said Deputy Project Director and Senior Attorney Kaitlin Banner of Advancement Project.
“What this most recent move means is that our leaders don’t value having high-quality teachers, counselors, and psychologists who are professionally trained to support, educate and motivate our youth. Instead, they want skilled marksmen and gun brandishing soldiers to patrol school hallways. We know that this decision is not about safety and that more armed police and school staff will intimidate and harm students. This move will only calcify what we call the school-to-prison pipeline for our youth of color. We won’t stop fighting against this injustice.”
###
Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.
