To: Bill Cosby, Actor, Activist, Board Member and Roland Martin, Journalist and Board member
Bill Cosby & Roland Martin: Say no to guns in schools
We all agree that guns do not belong in schools. Yet you are board members of an organization that endorsed 14 candidates in Michigan who voted in favor of allowing concealed weapons in schools and day care centers, among other public places. I ask that you use your positions of influence at StudentsFirst to ensure that all future endorsements consider fundamental issues like children's safety.
StudentsFirst is an influential group, and you are influential members of it. Mr. Cosby and Mr. Martin, I ask that you please make it clear to StudentsFirst that you will no longer remain on the board of an organization that supports candidates who support allowing weapons around our children at school.
Why is this important?
Like teachers across the country, I take my commitment to my students' safety very seriously. That's why I was so disturbed when the Michigan legislature passed a bill that would allow concealed guns in places like schools and day care centers. The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut drew more attention to this bill, but here in Detroit, we already know too well that our schools and communities need fewer guns, not more. Thankfully, Governor Snyder vetoed the bill after days of public disapproval. But this bill should never have gotten as far as it did.
Ensuring that schools are safe spaces for students to learn should be a basic point of agreement for every education- and youth-focused group. Keeping weapons off campus is vital to those goals. But StudentsFirst, founded by Michelle Rhee, endorsed and supported 15 candidates who were eligible to vote on the bill. Of those 15 legislators, 14 of them voted in favor of the bill to allow concealed weapons on campus. When the Huffington Post reached out to StudentsFirst, they initially declined to oppose a bill that would have opened schools up to strangers with concealed weapons. They only said they opposed the bill after it was vetoed, and they haven’t made any promises to consider issues like student safety when making future endorsements.
This is troubling, but Bill Cosby and Roland Martin, who sit on the national board for StudentsFirst, have both been outspoken leaders on the issue of gun control and public safety. I sincerely hope that they will make it clear that as long as they remain on the board, StudentsFirst should not endorse candidates that support allowing weapons in schools.
Mr. Cosby and Mr. Martin have the power to make a real difference. Please join me in asking them to use their influence to help make our schools safer for our kids.