Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D) is calling on Congress to act on school safety ahead of the seventh anniversary of the Parkland school shooting. In a message to supporters, he emphasized the need for commonsense bipartisan reforms to protect students and educators from school violence.
In his message, Rep. Moskowitz stressed that the federal government has failed to take adequate action to prevent similar tragedies.
"There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t remember the fourteen students and three staff we lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School—students and staff whose lives never should have been at risk just for walking into their school on Valentine’s Day," he shared in his message.
The Florida Democrat criticized the House for its lack of urgency on school safety and reaffirmed his commitment to breaking the cycle of inaction. As a response to the pressing issue, Rep. Moskowitz introduced a package of bipartisan measures aimed at strengthening school security, emergency response systems, and student safety resources.
Rep. Moskowitz's legislative package includes the following bills:
The Measures for Safer School Districts Act requires schools to develop emergency response and parental notification procedures and mandates door reinforcement improvements.
The Single Application for School Safety Act simplifies the federal grant application process for schools seeking funding for security cameras, intercoms, door-locking mechanisms, anonymous threat reporting systems, and crisis intervention training programs.
The EAGLES Act establishes a national program on targeted school violence prevention, expanding research, training, and information-sharing to prevent attacks before they happen.
Rep. Moskowitz highlighted that school violence has impacted communities nationwide, regardless of political affiliation, and called on Congress to act swiftly. "No student should be scared to go to class in the morning, and no family should worry about whether their kid will come home in the afternoon," he affirmed.
