FIRST THINGS FIRST

STUDENT SAFETY IS THE PRIMARY CONCERN

THE M-DCPS NEEDS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE NOW

A Miami Education Review EDITORIAL By Brian Peterson

Tragedy has struck our school system once again.  Superintendent Carvalho implies that such acts are random and almost not preventable, but that is not quite completely true.

If the M-DCPS had a better system to promote peace and non-violence, fewer such incidents would occur.  We would be spared at least some deaths of students.

From everything that I have read, the best program out there to bring down the level of violence is “Restorative Justice,” which emphasizes having offenders make restitution for the injuries that they have caused to others and then the repentant offenders are reintegrated into the school community.

Given the large number of student deaths over the past two years, the time has definitely come to establish comprehensive Restorative Justice programs in every school – elementary, middle and high school.

The fact that this death occurred at Coral Gables, a relatively elite school with a large International Baccalaureate program, suggests that every single school should implement Restorative Justice, regardless of the income level of the neighborhood.

The M-DCPS should put some of the resources which it is now wasting on teaching FCAT test-taking strategies into something of greater urgency – protecting the lives of our children.

Kids are dying because our schools are not paying enough attention to them.  All the schools care about is FCAT – all the time.