This book provides a careful analysis of the extraordinary institutional failures by school administrators, the School Board, the Sheriff's Department, and mental health authorities in Broward County in the years leading up the Parkland/Stoneman Douglas high school shooting.
It is one of the most harrowing books I have ever read, and the 42 "What if" questions asked right before Chapter 9 are so disturbing that they will likely keep you up at night. You probably will not think the same way about public education or public safety again after reading this book.
The book is painful to read not so much because it describes the loss of a beloved daughter--Meadow's life and her death are described in just a few short pages by her father--but because the book describes, in painful detail, the extraordinary institutional failures made by so many institutions, so many individuals, over such a long period of time.
As the authors show, given the policies that were in place, some type of catastrophe was inevitable: it was only a matter of time. Interestingly, the book is written without anger or hate, and the father writes that he views the killer as a seriously ill individual, as someone who should have received some type of treatment or intervention but who was instead failed countless times by the system.
The book *is*, however, written with frustration and legitimate exasperation. Why? As the authors show, much of the blame lies not with *passive* neglect (although there was certainly some of that, too, including cowardice on the part of one law enforcement official the day of the massacre), but with the **active implementation** of harmful policies by school and police authorities that allowed the shooter to slip through the cracks dozens of times.
In shining a bright light on the harmful institutional policies in all of its manifestations, aggressively implemented by key actors (including the Superintendent, the Sheriff, and the School Board), the book provides a crucial and indispensable public service. One-by-one, the flawed policies and their premises are analyzed in detail: the PROMISE program, the 5006 policy, "discipline reform", "restorative justice", etc. etc.
This book is a careful work of policy research, a type of forensic analysis, written in clear language that is accessible to anyone. I would recommend the book to any parent, any School Board member, and any teacher who wonders how something like this could have happened.
Disturbingly, the authors show that the problems are not confined to Broward County, Florida, but exist in other public school districts across the U.S. These policies are pursued in the name of "social justice" and of being "woke".
What the authors refer to as the "social justice industrial complex"-- a collection of wealthy progressive grant-making Foundations, educational associations, unions, and self-proclaimed civil rights organizations--perpetuate similar policies all across the U.S., usually without the knowledge of parents. And although these organizations claim to act on behalf of "students" and "teachers", the book shows that their preferred policies end up really hurting students and normal teachers the most. The book also shows that teachers who dared to voice concern about misguided policies were either harassed into silence or so bullied by Administrators that they were forced to resign.
The book is not "pro-gun" or "anti-gun" but makes it clear that focusing only on guns in the context of this massacre (as much of the media did in the wake of this catastrophe) is inadequate. The book also raises serious questions about the state of psychiatric healthcare in the U.S.: shortly before her death, the shooter's adoptive mother had begged authorities to have her son forcibly committed to psychiatric care so that he could receive treatment--a request that was promptly denied by mental health authorities.
The Sheriff's department also comes in for serious institutional criticism, with the evidence showing that the removal of the Sheriff by the Florida Governor was well-deserved on the merits. Unfortunately, the book also shows that many of the "bad apples" in Broward remain in office, and many of the problematic policies remain in effect.
Does this book end on a pessimistic note? I would say not quite. The book encourages parents to be engaged in School Board elections to make sure the institutional failures that led to the massacre are not replicated in their children's school district. In the end, then, this book is a stirring call for civic engagement on the part of parents, and shows that even if Broward County has not bettered its ways thus far, engaged parents and teachers *can* make a difference against an increasingly troubled and deeply confused educational establishment by being vigilant and careful in analyzing the policies embraced by their local school district.
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An eye opener that can brought change
The night I started reading the book I couldn’t put it away. At the beginning it felt like a knife pierced my heart. As a Mother who had a daughter the same age as Meadow and went to a public high school in Broward county, this touched me personally in so many levels. I had observed the lack of security, years before in my daughter’s high school (just minutes from MSD) when a student brought a gun but was detected by other students. Code red worked fine. But I didn’t know about Promise and other programs that really deteriorated the environment in our schools. I encourage anyone to leave their political biases and READ the book. This might the beginning of the change we need in our public schools and open a deeper debate. LES RECOMIENDO que lean este libro. Les va a abrir los ojos sobre lo que sucede en las escuelas públicas de Broward.
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2019
- Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2020
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- mr s hardingReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2019
One of the read's of the year so far. 5 stars.
