My favorite book from middle school, and one that I loved reading with my students, is To Kill a Mockingbird.  At one point in the book, Atticus Finch turns to his son, Jem, and says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know that you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

The Parkland students who have turned from victims to activists—and their peers across the country—are examples of real courage.  And I think, despite the odds, they’re going to win. 

Only a few days have gone by in 2018 when we haven’t been rocked by the tragedies of a school shooting.  This has become an American epidemic and these student activists remind us that we all have a part to play to rid our schools, and our communities, of gun violence.  I have drafted a Resolution that the Board will hopefully adopt on March 13th that calls on Congress to immediately pass commonsense gun safety measures.   It also calls on LA Unified to reflect on our own school safety plans and ensure we are doing everything in our power to keep students safe.  While Congress has abdicated its responsibility to do so—and, as a result, we have students as young as twelve who have access to guns—we will continue to ensure that our schools are places where children can learn and thrive safely and peacefully.

The Parkland students remind us that we can follow our darkest hours with our brightest opportunities for change.  I remain hopeful that this generation—those kids in our schools this minute—will be the ones that teach us what real courage is.  And I’m grateful to their teachers for supporting them. 

As I visit schools every week and see the future promise of our country, I’m reminded of something Bobby Kennedy once said:  “Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”