I’m back from Spain, and I wish I was coming back to a better America.
This morning I listened to a mother describe how her daughter survived the horrible Uvalde, Texas school shooting this week. According to the mom, her daughter curled up in a ball and felt like she was having a heart attack.
I’ve been suspicious of traditional school security for a long time now, so I hope no one reading this will accuse me of being opportunistic with what I’m going to say, given the events in Texas this week.
Most traditional schools continue to be under-prepared when it comes to protecting the lives of the children who attend them. I saw this constantly when I worked in a large urban school district in Texas for 25 years, and 10 more working with multiple school districts as the executive director of a school improvement non-profit. When we opened a brand new high school in 2000, early on I noticed around 40 or more potential ways outsiders could walk into our school without reporting to anyone. Even though we tried to keep doors closed and locked, doors were propped open and latches and locks broke. And, whenever we attempted to get tougher regarding our school security procedures, we were met with complaints from parents and community that reminded us we were running a school, not a prison.
But I saw better way to provide safety to learners when we launched our personalized learning lab school inside the Houston Museum District in 2014. The group of learners was much smaller than what you would see in a traditional school. 50 young learners, led by 2 adult learning coaches, moving about a space filled with adult professionals connected to the multiple museums that were our partners. Parents had immediate access to where their children were and what they were doing, since all our young learners were equipped with the right technology to stay in contact with their families if necessary. Mothers and fathers, and other family members, were able to stop by the lab school’s “base space,” where kids spent a few hours a day (but those hours always changed,) or in a museum where the young learners were currently working. One of the ideas behind the lab school was that of mobility, that learning doesn’t happen only in one place. Initially, we thought of this mobility as a way to achieve what John Dewey called “experiential learning.” Later, we began to see the safety and security potential of such an idea.
I distinctly remember the day we met the attorney responsible for making sure our learning lab was on solid ground in terms of potential litigation by, well, anyone. The lead attorney, a good friend from my days as a principal and region superintendent, looked at me and said, “You know Scott, there are a lot of cars driving around the Houston Museum District.” I knew exactly what she was worried about. She was concerned one of the young learners would be caught off guard and possibly struck by a vehicle while moving between museums. I remember what I said to that attorney, and it went something like this, “If I can help young learners get out in the world to experience authentic and relevant learning, then I’ll take the chance something bad might happen, like being hit by a motor vehicle.” In three years, we never had a traffic accident involving our kids. We never had any major accident involving the young learners or their coaches. We never had any violence perpetrated by outsiders. We never had a school shooting.
Is it time to change how we do public schooling in this country, especially when it comes to safety and security of our children? When I worked in the traditional system, one of the ideas we were taught to believe was “Safety Above All Else.” But what if that system can’t provide that safety? What if a new system needs to be created to make our young learners, and the adults who work with them every day, safer?
People will argue that the logistics of this new system is just too hard to figure out. I disagree. What if those Uvalde kids weren’t in one place called a school all day? What if those kids were out in the Uvalde community, spending time in different places each day, each day presenting a different learning schedule for the individual and the group? I have to believe those 19 kids might be alive today if we had shown the courage to change how we offer learning, and where we offer learning.
Schools are “sitting ducks” for those who want to prey on our most precious resource – our children. And, given this country’s inability to pass stronger gun laws, I fear, no, I know we will face more tragedy like Uvalde and Sandy Hook in the not too distant future. It’s going to happen again.
I believe dissatisfaction leads to motivation. Are we dissatisfied enough with losing children at the hands of troubled gun owners that we are motivated to change how we operate public schooling in this country?
I saw a Facebook post from a dear friend of mine this morning. She works as an elementary principal. She posted that she couldn’t sleep last night because of Uvalde. I slept well last night. You know why? Because, unlike my friend, I’ve lost faith in these places called schools to protect our children from guns, bullies, racial insults, gay bashing, speech rights, and the list goes on and on. Instead of protecting our kids from these terrible experiences, schools have become the place where it all happens. Adults will argue otherwise, but I think kids know this as truth.
It’s time to try different. Enough already.
Til tomorrow. SVB
A Better Path to Learning 
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