Defund Fear by Zach Norris

Author:Zach Norris [Norris, Zach]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2020-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Things did not have to unfold like this, for Durrell or for so many youngsters like him.

It’s not difficult to imagine a different outcome for him and for Allen. There are at least three turning points in his story that could have led to a happier ending for father and son, and their community. While this hypothetical reflection on alternate realities won’t help Durrell, it can be valuable as we set about creating a new model of public safety and accountability. After all, part of what makes us uniquely human is our capacity to be self-reflective about our past and present, and imagine a different kind of future.

The first turning point for Durrell was in school. Like so many children today, Durrell had been diagnosed with ADHD. He had stopped showing up for classes and then for school altogether. What would have held his interest in school? I don’t believe there’s any student so hopeless or apathetic that they can’t be engaged in learning: it’s just a matter of figuring out what will hold their interest. We know for a fact that Durrell wasn’t apathetic; we know that before he died, Durrell discovered a passion for landscape design. Is it beyond the realm of imagining that Durrell’s school could have offered ways for him to learn about gardening and design?

Recognizing the problems with the standardized “factory model of education”—a result of schooling intended originally to train factory workers during the industrial era—more affluent schools have devoted more and more resources to personalized and project-based learning. Underinvestment in public schools, however, meant fewer innovations in learning and education. A 2019 report revealed that “nonwhite school districts receive $23 billion less than white districts, despite serving the same number of students.”4 Most public schools constantly have to do more with fewer and fewer resources, resulting in the decimation of arts, physical education, libraries, and other “nonessentials,” even as they struggle to attract and retain good teachers.

At the same time, however, many of these schools are investing in security systems—everything from metal detectors to security cameras to armed guards—with negligible or even counterproductive effects. Through the federal 1033 program, school police agencies around the country obtained surplus military equipment, such as powerful rifles, grenade launchers, and armored vehicles. At least twenty-two districts in eight states used 1033 before President Obama implemented restrictions on the program in 2015, but President Trump rescinded the restrictions in mid-2017, clearing the way for schools to once again obtain military equipment.

So why not take that money and invest it instead in, for example, experiential learning programs, including landscaping and gardening, which would provide the kind of hands-on, project-based learning and problem-solving experiences that many believe will best prepare our children for the future?

We even have models for schools where this is already happening. One example is Orchard Gardens, a public school in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At the pilot school’s opening in 2003, the community had high expectations. The building was clad in panels the deep yellow color of a school bus, with pops of red around the windows and doors.

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