Education Week reports
on a number of national groups joining in an expression of concern about violence, harassment and intimidation in schools since the presidential election.

The organizations issuing the call to action are: the AASA, the School Superintendents Association; the American School Counselor Association; the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network; the National Association of Elementary School Principals; the National Association of Secondary School Principals; National PTA; the National School Boards Association; the National Association of School Psychologists; and the National Association of Independent Schools.

“We come together as national education organizations in the wake of the troubling rash of reports of bias incidents and violence occurring in schools across the nation in recent days,” the groups said in a statement. “As learning communities, schools and school systems are responsible for providing all students with a physically and emotionally safe learning environment. This principle is the foundation of academic achievement, healthy individual development, and civic engagement. Violence, intimidation, and purposefully harmful expressions of bias undercut the core mission of schools and have no place in our school communities.”

We’ve had similar reports in Arkansas, of course.

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Schools are rightly a place of concern, given that children might not have the same coping skills as adults. But it’s also worth noting that old truism — schools reflect homes.

I’m thinking about dominant environments and influence on adults and children this morning in Mena. I hope to meet Cato for coffee before long. At dinner last night, I read the local free weekly and learned that Hillary Clinton got a whopping 15 percent of the vote in Polk County. Cato assures me there’s a mix of viewpoints at the daily kaffeeklatch at the Country Express. My first question will be: How do you find them?

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